The Black Horned Crane
by Snook24
Summary: Zuo Ci travels the land to make sure fate plays out the way it is suppossed to. COMPLETE! Look for BHC II. Reviews always appreciated.
1. The Wandering Prophet

**The Black Horned Crane **

Author's Note:

The weird title name is because Zuo Ci was known as "Master Black Horn" or so I've heard and he takes the form of a crane in the game at the end.

_In case nobody will notice, I have "borrowed" some themes from __Paulo Coelho's novel _The Alchemist_. It is one of the best books I have ever read and I would really recommend it. So, sorry for all the jib-jab, here it is._

**The Wandering Prophet**

"_You!"_ screamed Gongsun Zan as he stepped towards Yuan Shao. Zhao Yun quickly blocked Zan from confronting Shao as Yuan Shao smirked.

"Please my Lord, we cannot start any conflicts here. Save it for the battlefield!" Yun reasoned.

"Hmpf" Gongsun Zan defiantly walked away from Yun's brace around his arm. Zhao Yun gave his old master a bow in respect and apologized for his lord's rudeness.

"Friend. I cannot thank you enough. We can't afford a dispute amongst allies at times like this." A man with a kind voice said. Zhao Yun looked to where the voice came from and saw a trio of men standing by a tent all wearing elaborate outfits designed around the color of jade. The man who spoke the words had a kind complexure about him that made him look like more of a lover than a fighter and looked so out of place with the other two men behind him. The two men were the opposite of the first man; they looked like warriors, the kind not to be messed with and were each holding giant fearsome spears that looked capable of breaking through any material.

"Yes. My Lord can let his emotions get the best of him at times." Zhao Yun replied.

"I am just glad that there are men who are capable of reason here. So far, I have seen very few like you." The man said.

"Zhao Yun! What are you doing?" Gongsun Zan called.

"Zhao Yun is my name," Yun said as he bowed, "I hope to meet again on the battlefield." The man bowed to Yun in affirmation.

Yun caught up with Gongsun Zan and asked, "My Lord, what can you tell me about the man I was just speaking with?"

"Who, him? That is Liu Bei; he was a fellow pupil with me. He was very gentle but that's pretty much all he was." Zan replied.

_No,_ Yun thought, _there's something about him._

Yun was walking back to camp to prepare the troops for the upcoming battle along with Gongsun Yue when a large bird caught Yun's eye. He examined the bird further and realized that it was a crane. _What could a lone crane be doing in a climate such as this?_ Yun thought acknowledging the cold weather. He looked back and it was gone. Yun thought nothing of it and continued following Yue. The crane crossed his view again and this time landed on a nearby rock and seemed to be looking right at Yun.

"Yue?" Yun asked, "Do you see that crane?"

"Yes what about it?" Yue replied.

"What is it doing all the way up here in this weather?"

"Maybe it got lost or something. I don't know, I'm not one of those crazy bird watchers" Yue said annoyed.

Just then the bird disappeared again. And once again, appeared a second later flying over Yun's head. He ducked and the bird barely missed him but as Yun looked up, the bird faded from his view.

_Am I insane?_ Yun thought.

"No, not insane my good child. More like gifted" A voice said and Yun jumped in surprise.

"Who… Who are you?" Yun asked.

"Oh for heaven's sake I'm Gongsun Yue you moron! I swear sometimes I don't know where my cousin finds you people." Gongsun Yue said and walked off to his tent in disgust.

The man who spoke to Yun was an old man and had the most unusual outfit with hair that stood up in an unnatural funnel-like shape and had a symbol that resembled a Yin-Yang symbol across his right eye.

"I am heaven and I am earth. I am nobody and I am everybody. I am the light and I am the dark. I am everything that is and everything that should be. I am the Yin and I am the Yang. I am the King of Salem." Replied the old man.

"Salem?" Yun said, "I have never heard of it. What province is it from?"

"Oh it is not from this place." The man said, "It disappeared long ago."

"Then surely this King of Salem has a name, does he not?" Yun asked.

"I have many names my child," the man said, "but one many call me here is Zuo Ci."

"So is that what I am to call you?" Yun asked.

"If you wish," the old man said.

"What is your business here Master Zuo Ci?" Yun asked.

"I am here to set right what once went wrong." Zuo Ci replied.

"…By coming to me?" Yun asked.

"You have been deemed worthy of this my child," Ci said, "You have the abilities and the mindset to fix the future of this world."

"Uh-huh…" Yun skeptically replied. "So… you are from the future?"

Zuo Ci took out five majestically designed cards and laid them face down in front of Yun. He started waving his hands and the cards started to glow.

"I've seen magic before Zuo Ci." Yun said. "You can't fool me."

"Ahh, so then you know that it is conceived by one's Chi?" Ci asked.

"So they say, yes." Yun replied.

"I am the embodiment of all Chi in this universe, which is why only a select few can even sense my presence." Ci explained. "All others see me as the crane you saw earlier."

"And why a crane Master Zuo Ci?" asked Yun.

"A crane is free like all birds, it can travel anywhere it desires just as Chi does, but we must discuss other things." Ci said. "I travel this universe to make things the way they were meant to be, but were changed by some unfortunate circumstances."

"How?" Yun asked, the man was starting to repeat himself now.

"When a man is destined to become rich by looking for gold and is on the way to giving up, I am the rock he trips over and strikes in anger only to reveal that underneath the rock is the most beautiful diamond the man has laid eyes on. When a man was destined to discover gravity, I was the apple that fell on his head to spark the idea. When a man is destined to marry the women of his dreams but is on the road to giving up, I am the painting on the wall that brings back that warm memory that re-ignites the man's passion and causes him to do everything in his power to marry that women." Ci explained.

Zhao Yun was skeptical about what Zuo Ci was saying, "Ah, I see you do not believe me to be who I say I am." Zhao Yun shook his head with a frown on his face. Zuo Ci then took a deck of cards and laid them face down. "To prove my honesty, I will reveal to you your past and if you are not convinced that I am who I say I am then I will leave and never bother you again." Yun snorted in amusement at this but as Zuo Ci turned the cards over, Yun read that every word was dead accurate and even revealed what Yun never spoke to anyone. It revealed his thoughts during moments such as his mother dying, what he felt like doing then, what he almost did then. These were thoughts Yun had kept buried deep and wanted to forget them more than anything in the world. For this Yun became less skeptical of Zuo Ci and gave what he had to say a chance. "Your future is in danger Zhao Yun. You have the ability to change it."

"What must I do Master Zuo?" Yun asked.

"First you must challenge him," Ci said.

"Challenge who?" Yun asked.

"The God among men, the Fang of the Demon, the man in which no other can rival… the Great Lu Bu!"


	2. Hu Lao Gate

Hu Lao Gate

"Where is General Zhao?" Gongsun Zan asked his cousin Yue with a vibrant tone of annoyance in his voice.

"He's still outside his tent talking to his bird," replied Gongsun Yue, "I'm beginning to wonder about that kid. Where did you find him again?"

"That _kid_ will carry this army to glory no matter how crazy the boy may seem!" Gongsun Zan said with more anger than before, "Hurry and fetch him Yue, the generals are about to discuss their battle plan!"

The generals that made up the coalition against Dong Zhuo all sat in a large tent and waited for their leader, Yuan Shao, to give them the strategy to break past Hu Lao Gate.

Zhao Yun in the meantime was walking to the tent wondering if what he had just witnessed was real. An old man appeared out of nowhere and told him to fight Lu Bu. The man that called himself Zuo Ci never told him why he had to fight Lu Bu, maybe it was because everyone just exaggerated Lu Bu's abilities and for that everyone was afraid to fight him and that Lu Bu was going to kill someone of value because of this. Maybe Zhao Yun actually had a chance despite- with the exception of a few battles- being fairly new to the battlefield. On the other hand, the man could just be as crazy as Yun thought and was going to get Yun killed.

Zhao Yun made his way to the main tent and brushed the tent flap out of his way, "Sorry I'm…" every eye was locked on him. He was late. Yun did his best to try to not look as embarrassed as he really was. He tried to subtly sit down by Gongsun Zan, who was equally embarrassed as Yun was, but Yun fumbled and tripped over all of the other officers and they just glared at him even more.

"Ahem, as I was saying," Yuan Shao continued and all of the officers concentrated on the map of the layout of the gate and it's roads. "Dong Zhuo's troops are nothing to fear. I am positive that all of you will have no problem stampeding right through their lines, the real trouble lies with the man I am sure you all know of, Lu Bu. He will most likely be waiting near the main entrance of the gate and therefore, we must all approach the gate with caution."

"I have been told there is a man of near equal strength by the name of Zhang Liao." Said Cao Cao, one of the lead vanguard generals.

"Yes, Zhang Liao may be an obstacle in the way of our path to victory but he may just take more time to defeat than Dong Zhuo's other generals. He will be nothing compared to Lu Bu." Yuan Shao replied.

"That's not what I've heard." Cao Cao said under his breath.

Yuan Shao gave the overall strategies to all of the generals and it was upon reading the battle plans did Zhao Yun realize how great of a commander Yuan Shao came to be.

_I will just have to prove that I am worthy of his strategies._

Zhao Yun and the rest of the White Riders forced their way through the enemy lines. The only trouble they had was when they faced Zhang Liao and his cavalry. Yun engaged Zhang Liao's forces and they both fought for a considerable amount of time. Guan Yu, who was a general under Liu Bei, engaged Zhang Liao in a dual alongside Zhao Yun. Zhang Liao knew he was out-numbered and had no choice but to withdraw. Zhao Yun tried to cut off his retreat by jumping over the enemy line and positioning himself behind Zhang Liao. Liao knew this was the end and awaited the young general's attack, but it did not come. Yun stepped aside, rethinking about what he was doing.

"For the sake of honor I shall let an enemy retreat." Yun declared.

"You have my thanks brave general." Liao said graciously, "Tell me your name White Rider."

"I am Zhao Yun of Chang Shan."

"Thank you Zhao Yun. Your acts of kindness will not be forgotten!" Zhang Liao shouted as he road off with what little troops he had left. By now, every base and fortress had been captured and all that remained was Hu Lao Gate. They all charged the troops that guarded the gate. They cleared the way for the engineers to set up catapults.

Zhao Yun thought he was doing extremely well; he brought down scores of troops and plenty of officers along with them and his spirit was as high as ever. If he wasn't able to defeat Lu Bu, he sure felt like he could. After the catapults had knocked out the gate defenses, the battering rams did their part and started working on the North Gate. The troops around it fought off the enemy soldiers that tried to stop it. Eventually, the battering ram broke through and all of the soldiers around it charged for the open gate, and then they heard the thunder. All of them were stopped in their tracks by the thunderous roar that approached. At the peak of the thunder came Lu Bu and his famed horse Red Hare. He slaughtered countless troops and officers and everyone else ran either in fear or to find another way around.

Yun saw this as his opportunity. Whether he believed in Zuo Ci or not, he was going to fight Lu Bu. He charged at Lu Bu with his horse and blind sighted him off of his horse. Without a word spoken the two began to fight. Zhao Yun held his own for the most part but was on the defensive too much. _There is no way around this demon!_ He thought. He blocked Bu's attacks for minutes and he steadily grew tired. Yun knew he couldn't hold off much longer and he knew that Lu Bu knew this as well. _If I am going to die here, I will not die evading his moves!_ Yun thought. He tried going on the offensive by using swift strikes at Bu's midsection but was too tired to deliver them quick enough and Bu blocked most of them. The ones that did get through were just thrown aside by Lu Bu's massive armor. Yun tried using stronger attacks but was too slow and left himself wide open. Lu Bu kept knocking Yun aside with the blunt side of his halberd and he let him attack again and again.

"Such a child…" Lu Bu said with an unusually calm voice. It was then that Zhao Yun realized that he was no match for the God of War, and the great demon was just toying with him. Yun became enraged and started blindly attacking at random.

"I've had enough!" Lu Bu shouted and deflected one of Yun's attacks with such force that Yun's own spear hit himself in the head and caused him to become disoriented. Lu Bu came in for a strike and hit Yun in the left side of his ribcage. Yun's armor took most of the blow but Bu's halberd still managed to cut flesh.

"AAAAAhhhh!!!" Yun screamed in pain and waited for the final blow.

"HAH!" Zhang Fei shouted as he cut down another enemy. "Say brother." He said to Liu Bei looking to his right and noticing Zhao Yun's fight with Lu Bu. "Isn't that the kid who you talked to at the camp this morning?" Liu Bei glanced over to his right as well and noticed that Lu Bu had struck down the man known as Zhao Yun.

"We have to help him!" Liu Bei said remembering the man's kind heart and how he chose reasoning before fighting.

"Aww really?" Zhang Fei said, "We don't have to." But Liu Bei was already chasing after Lu Bu.

"I believe we do brother Fei." Said Guan Yu. "We have to support our brother on all of his decisions. He sees something in that boy that we don't and we have to uphold that." Guan Yu said following after Liu Bei.

"Rrrgh" Zhang Fei growled as he defiantly followed his two sworn brothers.

Zhao Yun waited for his life to end by the hands of Lu Bu, cursing himself for believing in Zuo Ci. But the blow never came; he opened his eyes and saw a blurred image of what seemed to be four men fighting. He closed his eyes saving his strength and started to fade into unconsciousness. He then heard one calm, comforting voice after another, both uttering the words "Relax, you are safe now. Everything is going to be alright." The first voice was the one he had heard earlier at the main camp but the other voice was unfamiliar. The voice sounded as if it belonged to that of… a woman.


	3. The Other Side of the Gate

The Other Side of the Gate

"The North Gate has been breached!" screeched a nearby soldier who had just discovered the news. Diao Chan sat in her tent playing her erhu with her chain whip by her side trying to divert her attention away from all of the killing and death around her. She jumped up abruptly when hearing the news but she was expecting the Allies to break through eventually. She knew what was going to happen and looked over at Lu Bu who was mounting Red Hare.

He met her gaze with his and said, "Diao Chan, promise me you will still be here when this is over."

"You have had my answer since before this battle started" she compassionately replied and touched his hand.

"Remember Diao Chan, all that I do, I do for you." And with that Lu Bu was off. Diao Chan lazily sunk back into her chair.

"How long must this façade continue?" She asked herself. Sure she thought Lu Bu was sweet but if it weren't for her beauty he would treat her like he would all of Dong Zhuo's other concubines. Dong Zhuo… if there were a single man on the face of the earth that Chan thought deserved death more than anyone it was he. The way he treated people in general was despicable. What he was doing with the emperor was the definition of dishonorable and found it difficult to act like she supported him. At times Chan contemplated killing her lord in his sleep. She knew this was possible but would cause more problems for her. It would end this conflict quickly but her father taught her about patience and patience was the best way to solve this dispute.

Diao Chan had been assigned a mission by her father and Han loyalist Wang Yun. She was to get close to Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu by using her overwhelming beauty and tear them apart from the inside. She was to do this by faking a relationship with the two and using the other's emotions to rip them apart and destroy the other. So far the plan was working fine but the only problem was that Diao Chan had to subject herself to both of them when she clearly didn't love either of them. Nobody became aware of this or her plan except for Zhang Liao. She knew he knew something about the plan but she didn't know how much he knew. She knew he knew because of the way he looked at her; it wasn't for eye candy like all of the other generals under Dong Zhuo, but it was like he was staring through her eyes and into her mind. He was one of the few generals she knew with intelligence and this could be a threat to her plan if he was truly loyal to Dong Zhuo or Lu Bu.

Chan stood back up and picked up her chain whip and got ready for battle. She headed for the north gate with a few platoons of troops ready to back Lu Bu up if he needed it. She passed through the archway of the gate and saw Lu Bu fighting an officer in white armor that was as bright as the snow around them. She could tell the man was no match for Bu and watched, as he would soon destroy him. It was then that she realized the bird.

_What kind of bird flies up here for the winter?_ She thought to herself. The bird eventually revealed enough of its silhouette for Chan to identify it as a crane. Her father always had said cranes were good fortune and she smiled at the thought of her father. She noticed the crane flying in a circular motion around Lu Bu and his opponent like a vulture waiting for its prey to die in the desert and she frowned. Moments later he was struck down and she looked at the crane and had a thought flash through her mind: this man could help her to carry out her plan somehow. She had no idea how this thought came about but something told her she had to do it.

"Go to my father!" she commanded her troops, "tell him that I sent you as reinforcements."

"But my lady," interrupted a soldier, "we have strict orders to-"

"That doesn't matter now please just go!" Chan focused her attention back to the battle where the man in white was laying on the snow with a flesh wound so large it was visible from the distance she was standing at. Lu Bu had engaged three other men and was looking as if he was having a hard time. Chan took this as her chance and she darted for the man. He was bleeding severely near his ribcage and had a gash on his head. She opened his eyelids and saw that he was barely conscious.

Diao Chan looked around her for any form of transportation. She saw a white horse about 50 yards away. The horse looked as if it wanted to run towards them but restrained itself for fear of being cut down by the chaos ensuing around it. Chan guessed that that was the man's horse so she tried beckoning it over.

"Come on! Come here beautiful!" but it was no help, the horse just became more agitated. She had no choice but to carry the man to the horse, but this would be time-consuming and she didn't know if the man had that much time. She dragged him across the snow and he groaned in pain. _It's too much, he'll never make it!_ The thought of why she was doing this task crossed through her mind and she couldn't come up with a good reason why. She laid the man down and just collapsed into the snow. She contemplated giving up, as the effort would be worthless if the man died and he was an enemy anyway. She rolled over and shivered from the cold of the snow on her bare skin and was about to give up and leave but she looked at the man's face. She never got a good look at him but she realized that he was just a boy not much older than she was. _What got into his mind to make him fight Lu Bu?_ She questioned herself.

The crane she saw before landed on the boy's armor and cooed at her. She stared at it puzzled and it stared back with an intensity that she only saw in the fiercest warriors and wild horses. The thought of her father crossed her mind again and she looked back at the man._ I have to. If I want to help people I have to start somewhere, even if it's just one person at a time._ She removed the torso part of his armor and wrapped her flowered veil from around her waist around the man's chest and tightened it to slow down the bleeding.

Chan dragged the man with all of her strength and collapsed once more when she heard the whinny of the horse. She got up and patted its nose to show that everything was going to be all right. The horse became less irritated and allowed Chan to place the man on its back. She tried mounting the horse herself but the horse wouldn't allow it. The horse obviously belonged to the man, as he was the only person it would allow on itself. She mentally agreed with the horse to walk beside it. She took its reins and took off as fast as she could back towards the main camp.

"Wait!" shouted a man to her left. It was the calm-looking man who was fighting Lu Bu. "Where are you taking this man?"

"To my quarters to tend to his wounds. I am sure he will be thankful for you rescuing him. What is your name?"

"I am Liu Bei, but that-"

"I will tell him that you saved him." And Diao Chan set off for her quarters with the man doing her best to give him words of comfort with one thing ringing in her mind:_ Why the hell am I doing this?!_

Diao Chan arrived at her tent and laid the man on her bed. She lit a fire as fast as she could and told a nearby guard to send for one of the medical assistants. She was all of a sudden overcome with a freezing pain of her skin becoming warm enough to regain feeling from the cold, and saw how her skin was beat red from the cold. "You idiot!" she told herself, "this is how people get frostbite!" Chan expected to be out in the battle for only a short while and definitely didn't expect to be rolling around in the snow. She just sat by the bed shivering as she used all of the blankets on the man and kept checking his vital signs and he was still alive.

One of the nurses arrived and started to replace Chan's veil with medicated gauze and wrapped his head.

"My lady shouldn't you have a blanket?" she asked, "you look like you are going to freeze to death!"

"No I'm fine!" Chan said, "just make sure he's ok."

"Ok then," the nurse said, "get one of those pots, fill it with hot coals and bring it here."

Chan wasn't used to being bossed around and was about to retaliate but noticed the situation she was in and obeyed.

"He's a handsome one don't you think?" asked the nurse. Chan pretended to have not heard and dipped a pot in the fire and scooped up several coals and brought the pot over to the bed. The nurse set it on the bed very close to the man.

"My lady you must get warm. Why don't you sit by the fire." Said the nurse.

"No I rescued him I think I should attend to him." Chan said.

"Well then you are either going to have to freeze to death or get personal with your warrior here." The nurse said. "I have to leave for a while can you handle this? You won't have to do anything more just watch him and if he starts to fade come after me." and she left.

Chan brought her body closer to the heated pot and sighed after feeling the warmth. She put her hands over the pot to warm them up and saw the man was wide-awake and staring at her with a puzzled look. It was then that she realized how close she was to his waste and jumped back in embarrassment.

"Um… hi… and good morning." She said smiling and knocked the pot onto the man's groin and he yelped.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" Chan yelled as she brushed the coals off of him blushing all the while and groaned the words; "Oh boy."


	4. Introduction of the Songstress

Introduction of the Songstress

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" was all Zhao Yun could make out after he felt a burning sensation near his groin area. He was a little embarrassed after he let out a small yelp like a child when he appeared to be some brave, mighty soldier in front of what was obviously a girl.

"It's all right my lady, it was just a little sting." _Bullshit!_ He thought. He wanted to scream his lungs out it hurt so badly, but he couldn't admit that he was in pain in front of a lady. Unless he wanted to say goodbye to his pride or all that was left of it after being nearly slaughtered by Lu Bu and ended up in some lady's tent and… couldn't see anything?

He opened his eyes and saw the assorted colors and dots that one would normally see after having closed their eyes for a long time, but this time they wouldn't go away. He kept rubbing his eyes and opening them wider and wider but the most he could see was out of his peripheral vision.

"You took quite a beating if I may say," The women said and Yun tried his best to see the face that was speaking to him but to no avail. "But can you tell me why you decided to… um, are you ok?" she asked after he obviously was looking around the tent at random and reaching his arms out in front of him for a feel of his surroundings.

"I… I can't see." Yun said trying unsuccessfully to hide the fact that he was a little panicked.

The women let out a gasp, "You mean… you're blind? So that's why you were fighting Lu Bu, you couldn't see so you didn't realize who you were fighting could you?" Yun resisted the urge to put his head in his hands and just shake his head.

"Um… my good lady, if I was blind I wouldn't be in the military, what I meant was that I could see before but I lost my vision when I woke up just now." He said as sincere as he could without laughing.

"Oh, oh I'm so sorry, I'm usually not this stupid! Do you need a doctor?"

Yun stumbled over a nearby chair when he tried to get out of bed, "Um, yeah a doctor would sound good right about now." He anxiously said.

"Stay right here and don't get out of bed, for heavens' sake you nearly had your chest split open!" It was then that Yun remembered what happened and the stinging from the spilled coals was replaced by the mind-splitting pain on his chest and was frozen where he was from the pain.

She arrived moments later with another women, "He says that he can't see," the first women spoke.

"What do you mean you can't see? Can you see at all?" the second women asked Yun,

"I can only see dots and colors and I can just barely see out of the corner of my eye."

"Ok, then this is normal when someone has a concussion, your brain has become inflamed and has swollen up a little bit and has pushed into the back of your eyes, you will get your vision back soon." She handed something to the first women. "Have him eat these, it will help speed up the process. Now if you'll excuse me there are wounded soldiers that I must attend to."

"I understand," said the first women, "I'll look after him." And the second women left.

"Here try these," the women gave him a handful of whatever it was and Yun tried putting it up to his mouth but missed and hit his cheek. "Oops! Haha," she picked them back up, "They look like carrots to me." He managed to find his mouth and ate the "carrots" and ironically enough… they tasted like carrots.

"I think these are carrots." Yun said. They both laughed.

"I did here that they help your vision." The women added. So they waited for the carrots to take effect. "So… I don't think we formally introduced ourselves yet" and the women took Yun's hand and shook it. "My name's Diao Chan."

"Zhao Yun."

"Nice to meet you," Diao Chan said playfully with a small laugh behind it.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just that we're in the middle of a war zone and… never mind."

_Ok then,_ Yun thought. "Hey um Lady Diao? I am as dry as a desert would it be alright if I had some water?"

"Ha, no need for formality here, you can call me Chan if you want and yes I can get you some water."

"Thank you Chan and you can call me Yun as well." Chan laughed and arrived moments later with a small vase filled with water.

"Here drink it carefully." He took the vase and began to drink but was obviously going to spill because Chan assisted him and put her hand on his. He paused for a brief moment, he really had no real contact with a woman before other than his mother and Chan's hand was so soft and gentle. He drank all of the water and the dots and colors he was seeing started to dissipate. He rubbed his eyes some more and his vision became clearer.

When it was perfectly clear, he looked at her face. If it hadn't been for the excruciating pain he was in he would have thought he had ascended to the heavens. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen; she sat adjacent to him on the bed and was wearing the most beautiful, and slightly revealing, outfit. Her face was as clean and smooth as the surface of the calmest of lakes and her skin was smoother than the finest of glass. Her hair had the scent of lilacs and was the most beautiful shade of brown he had ever set his eyes on and it rested ever so lightly on her back and shoulders. Her eyes were like looking into a turquoise lake and seeing one's reflection in the calm water, with pupils that were like looking at the starry nighttime sky without a cloud to be seen. Her figure was like the shape angels desired and begged to have but were unable to achieve. The feature that made Yun swell up inside the most was her smile and laugh, it would be a waste of time to describe as no words in any language would do it justice, it would make flowers bow their head in shame to its beauty.

"Hm, um I am guessing you have your vision back?" She blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear and bashfully looked down. Yun didn't realize he had been staring at her for several seconds and also looked away hiding his blush. He looked down and realized that she still had her hand on top of his and she saw him look at this and she darted her hand away and knocked the vase out of his hand and it shattered on the stone floor.

"Oh, oh man! Haha!" She laughed. They both started to clean it up all the while trying to steal glances at each other without the other noticing. "I am usually not this clumsy really." Yun just laughed in response. What could he say?

They both shared an awkward moment of making eye contact and looking away. Then Yun realized exactly where he was and brought his "warrior" mindset back to work. He looked out the opening to the tent and realized he was behind the gate, there were men with crimson armor and black and red armor wondering around: the enemy. He was probably going to be made a prisoner once he was out of his bandages.

"Diao Chan I must leave."

"You can't!" she said a little too loud, "I mean… your wounds still need to heal."

"I thank for tending to me Chan but we are on opposing forces and I have duties I must attend to on my side." He started to leave but she interrupted him,

"Don't you think you owe me or something?" She had said this at first with conviction but faded almost to a whisper towards the end like she didn't want to say it.

It stopped Yun dead in his tracks, _Could she mean… nah no way!_ He shook his mind out of the gutter and listened to what she had to say, after all he _was_ in debt to her. She told him what she needed him to do and Yun realized that maybe his mind wasn't the only one that was in the gutter.


	5. Razing The Tyrant's Throne

The Razing of the Tyrant's Throne

Yun hit the ground hard holding his cheek, "What kind of girl do you think I am? And Whadaya mean no?!!" shouted his new acquaintance Diao Chan. If there was one thing he learned about her out of the little time together it was that she knew, and _knew_, how to slap. He disagreed to her plan and she gave him the Haymaker of slaps; it wasn't just some wussy flick of the wrist movement, it was the whole wind-back, come forward putting her whole body into it, connection, and the follow-through to finish it all off. At first Yun thought she was coming on to him so he tried a few moves that came out completely wrong, she gave him the look… the look that gives women so much control over men. It's the look that says "come here, I want you do to something for me" with a wink at the end to add to the effect. It fools men into thinking of that one thing every man craves for but in reality it ends up to just be a much needed favor that men are forced into agreeing to. Yun had always heard about that look from older officers but never encountered it until now. What Diao Chan wanted Yun to do was unthinkable.

"Listen, I'm sorry I didn't know what you were asking at first but why would you think I would agree to do that?" he asked standing back up.

"Maybe because I saved your life and…" she pulled out a bloodied veil with flowers on it, "you owe me a new veil." Now that nice, cute angel that he awoke to see was a demonized witch yelling at him and slapping him. Yun just stood there confused; he always heard older officers complaining about women and now he understood why.

"You save me from certain death and cared for me yourself and now you want me to… _hit you?_" he questioned.

"Yes, you will understand when I'm done."

"With what?"

"I can't tell you that right now, its kind of 'top secret'. You need to make sure it bruises." Now Yun was very confused, not only did she want him to hit her but she wanted it to be visible too.

"Why so you can tell everyone I did it?"

Diao Chan let out a disgusted sigh, "No, and I can't tell you the reason why right now!" She walked over and picked up his spear and went over to his horse.

"Wha…what are you doing!" he shouted. 

"If you won't hit me then your sad excuse for a horse can be dinner for my lord!" and she pulled the spear back and drove it forward. Yun's training kicked in and he automatically jumped up and blocked the spear from colliding with his horse and elbowed her in the mouth.

Yun was terrified, he never in his life even thought about hitting a woman, especially one of her beauty. "Oh my…" he walked over and helped her up. He cringed when he saw that her lip was bleeding. "I am so sorry." He expected another slap or something probably worse but he got that kind voice he heard upon waking up from unconsciousness.

"No its okay, it's what I wanted! I wasn't totally prepared for it but thank you." Now Yun was just bewildered, he hit a girl and was thanked for it; he never thought he would see the day.

"Were you really going to kill my horse?"

"Of course not! But I got you fooled didn't I?" despite having a fat lip she still managed to laugh and smile. "What's his name?"

"Titan."

"He's very beautiful."

"He was going to be my lord's son's but he was killed at an early age."

"I'm sorry to hear that. So he's pretty special to you isn't he?"

"Very special." They stood for a while admiring the horse when Diao Chan interrupted them.

"We have to go. We don't have much time." They ran towards the central palace of Luo Yang where Lu Bu was defending Dong Zhuo. They sneaked passed all of the fighting going on and turned a corner to find Zhang Liao and Chen Gong waiting for them.

"Going to tell your beloved Lu Bu what Dong Zhuo "did" to you, huh?" said Chen Gong as both of them drew their weapons.

"You knew?" She asked with a lot of fear in her voice, "How? I never spoke it to anyone."

"Some things you just find out on your own." Replied Zhang Liao.

"Please just step out of our way." Pleaded Diao Chan.

"We can't do that my lady, not while we are under our lord's service." Said Chen Gong.

"Then I guess the only way is to fight." Said Zhao Yun and he jumped in the air for a strike and was met by Zhang Liao.

"No Yun wait!" Chan pleaded with him not to fight, "There are other ways!"

The two collided and crashed onto the ground and the sound of their weapons clanging together echoed through the halls. Chen Gong tried to get in on the action and tried making a few slashes with his sword at Zhao Yun but tried in vain. Yun just threw them back and focused his attention on Zhang Liao. Chen Gong managed to get behind Yun and was about to strike but Diao Chan intervened and got into a deadlock with Gong.

"My lady the battlefield isn't for women such as yourself." She pushed him back and swung her whip around and knocked the sword out of his hands and he looked at it dumbfounded.

"I fight when it is truly necessary." Gong went for a strike but Chan hit him square in the chest and he fell onto the floor, "I am disappointed Master Chen, after all this time I thought a strategist such as yourself would realize by now that I am more than just a pretty face!"

"I find that hard to imagine seeing that lip of yours my lady." Chan became infuriated and she jumped forward in attack to continue the fight.

Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao were fairly even and Yun could move much faster without most of his armor on but was much more weary about being hit because of the absence of armor, but the gash on his chest hindered his strength. They clashed into a deadlock as well and Zhao Yun tried reasoning, "Master Zhang… what kind of lord would you want to serve?" Zhang Liao pushed him back and Yun stumbled over and fell.

"I fight for whomever will take me"

"Is that really the right person to serve then?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"What good has Dong Zhuo done?"

"…"

"Do you really support his decision to keep the Emperor hostage?" Yun could tell he was getting to him because Liao's hands started to tremble and he was making more mistakes. This was until Yun made a sharp jab at his midsection but was too slow and Liao caught it with his halberd and brought it around in a half-circle, slammed it into the ground and held it there with his foot. He held his own blade at Yun's neck.

"You are a wise man Master Zhao. I see what you are saying about my lord and you are right; he is very dishonorable. It would be best for the land if he were to be destroyed and for that I will let you pass." He let Yun go. "And my debt to you has been repaid." And Liao walked off.

Diao Chan on the other hand had subdued Chen Gong quite well and had her hand around his neck with her whip in striking position.

"Well my lady it seems that I have underestimated you. Lu Bu has taught you well."

"Will you give yourself up?"

"…I have been thinking about Lord Dong's decisions and I do believe that they are indeed dishonorable. Do with me as you wish for I have been defeated." Chen Gong laid his head back and waited for the inevitable strike but it never came. Chan released Gong and helped him up.

"You will let us pass than?" asked Yun.

"Yes, you may do as you please."

"Thank you Master Chen." And Chan gave him a bow. Yun stood and glared at him as they made their way to the palace.

The two were running down the halls when Yun asked, "Do you smell smoke?"

"Oh no!" Chan said, she looked out a nearby window, "No _no_ _NO!_" She yelled and hit the windowsill in frustration.

"What is it?"

"He started already, he is burning down the city! Come on we must hurry!" She took his hand and sprinted down the hallway and Yun nearly fell over from her pulling on him suddenly.

They found their way to the central palace of Luo Yang where Lu Bu stood at the gate ready to protect his adoptive father from the enemy while he lazily sat eating assorted fruit given to him by concubines on a throne that did not belong to him.

"Remember, stay out of site!" Chan whispered and Yun gave a nod…

"WHAT! You mean… _HE_ DID THIS TO YOU!?" screamed Lu Bu pointing at Dong Zhuo after seeing the injury that he supposedly gave to Diao Chan.

"Yes, I was helpless!" and Chan let out fake tears and sobs.

_She's good_, thought Yun.

"You sick… DOG! I know this isn't the first time you've done this, don't think I haven't noticed other injuries before and I guarantee you, THIS TIME IS YOUR LAST!" screamed Lu Bu and he charged at Dong Zhuo. He had obviously noticed the other injuries Diao Chan inflicted on herself to frame Dong Zhuo so that she could tear the two apart.

"Lu Bu! Have you gone insane? I never even touched the girl!"

"Say that to my halberd!" And before Dong Zhuo could get up to defend himself, he was cut down on the Emperor's throne with a plate of grapes still in his hands. The once gold throne had now reflected the redness of Dong Zhuo's blood. Several men ran out of the palace and obviously alerted Li Jue and Guo Si because they shouted out at Lu Bu to give himself up. Lu Bu stood panting with rage. He pointed his bloodstained halberd at a man that Yun couldn't recognize,

"I guess your precious Emperor has been saved and the throne is yours Master Wang…"

"Father!" screamed Diao Chan and she ran over to embrace her father.

"In return for your hard work, you and the Emperor can rot in here for eternity!"

"No Master Lu please-" Lu Bu grabbed her and forced her out the back door while Diao Chan vainly struggled and tried to get last glances at Wang Yun and to Zhao Yun's surprise…himself as well.

Yun ran out to save her but it was too late, Lu Bu had left through the door and sealed it shut.

"Chan no!" shouted Yun as he tried to open the door but no matter how hard he tried it wouldn't open, "Aahhh!" he pounded on it in frustration. Now Yun was in a room with a scared Emperor, an old Han loyalist, and a dead man's rotting corpse with men wanting to kill them all at the other end of the main gate.

"You there," Wang Yun said pointing to Zhao Yun, "there is a hidden doorway behind those pots, just push on the wall and it will slide open, it is a secret tunnel that is used for sieges. " he said pointing towards a series of large assorted vases "It is a secret path that will lead back to Hu Lao Gate, take His Highness through there and make sure he is safely delivered back to Han forces." Yun nodded and asked,

"Master, what will you do?"

"…" He looked away and stared out the window contemplating something, he whispered something to the Emperor and he nodded. Then, to Yun's astonishment, they exchanged clothes, "You know what shepherds did so that their sheep were not eaten by wolves?"

"…"

"They would place a goat by the front of the flock so that the wolves ate the goat instead, hence the name 'scapegoat'." Wang Yun turned around and Yun could see that the old man had tears rolling down his face.

"Please, tell my daughter that she did magnificent and that I love her very much." Said Wang Yun as he pulled out a sword from a nearby weapon rack and gave Yun an amulet with a small crane on it made completely out of platinum. "Give this to her and…" he jumped onto the windowsill of a nearby window, "…take good care of her!" Yun stared at him wondering why he said that. Had he known? Wang Yun went up to a window and shouted at the men outside, "You cowards! You have betrayed me as well as the Han. For that I will make sure your death is at my hands!" Wang Yun pulled out his sword and started to jump,

"But Master Wang-" Yun tried to stop him but the man had already jumped. Yun could hear the cries of the soldiers outside as they scored a kill. He tried to resist the urge but looked out a window and saw from the dull light of the moon and of the flames raging below, the soldiers had obviously fallen for the disguise and had mistaken Wang Yun for the Emperor. The soldiers were carrying the man around kicking and punching him and some even urinating on his limp body all the while cheering triumphantly as they gruesomely violated his body. Yun could feel his blood boiling and was tempted to jump out the window and slaughter every one of those barbarians for the soulless dogs they were. But he knew he had a job to do and wouldn't let Master Wang's death be in vain or let the Emperor die. He pushed the pots out of the way and pushed on a stone wall nearby and it gave way and slid open. Yun took a nearby candle and lit it, he asked the Emperor to come along and the young Emperor Xian obeyed and followed the general. Yun took one last glance at Dong Zhuo's dismembered body and the mass of soldiers out the window and shut the stone wall.

Yun and the Emperor made their way out of the palace to Allied forces and Yun felt secure for once all day. The men cheered at him when he put the Emperor in the hands of Yuan Shao. He gave many "thank yous" after being congratulated for returning the Emperor and surviving Lu Bu after a one-on-one duel. He looked over and saw Liu Bei with the other generals he was with. Liu Bei came running over to Yun,

"General Zhao! We all thought you were dead!"

"No, I owe that to a very dear friend."

"Yeah I was gonna take your horse here but seeing as how you're not dead, I'll give it back." Said a man by Liu Bei, he was short, well built and had a stubby beard and he gave Yun his horse back. "By the way, my name is Zhang Fei." Said Zhang Fei as he held out his hand. Yun shook it and said,

"Nice to meet you Zhang Fei."

"And I am Guan Yu." Said the taller man with the long elegant beard. Yun shook his hand as well and said,

"Nice to meet you as well Master Guan Yu."

"Hey how come I didn't get a 'Master'?!" shouted Zhang Fei,

"Oh I apologize Master Zhang Fei," Yun nervously said.

"Haha, relax kid I was only kiddin' with ya. Man you need to learn to take it easy." Zhang Fei said laughing.

"And I am Liu Bei and these are my Sworn Brothers." Said Liu Bei.

"It is a pleasure to meet you again Liu Bei."

"It looks like you took a pounding." Said Zhang Fei hinting at his chest wound.

"Huh? Oh, yes. It looks like Lu Bu was a little too much for me."

"I don't mean to sound overconfident but we did help you out there." Said Guan Yu.

"Oh so you were the men I saw fighting him? Then you have my sincere thanks." Said Yun as he bowed.

Liu Bei waved his hand, "We are the ones who must thank_ you_ Zhao Yun. _You_ are the one who returned the Emperor to us safely."

"Again, I owe that to a dear friend of mine."

"Well that must be some friend, I bet he's powerful!" Said Zhang Fei with a shouting voice that seemed to never go away.

"Haha, yes I guess so." Said Yun thinking of Diao Chan, "If you'll excuse me I must find my lord."

"Oh he has already left, he thought you were dead and left without you." Said Liu Bei, "I can take you to him if you want, I know were he is going." Liu Bei and his sworn brothers mounted their horses and started to ride in the direction where Gongsun Zan was apparently headed, but Yun stood where he was. Why would he chase after a lord who would leave him without even looking for him?

"You know… Lord Gongsun was a good leader but he lacked something very important…"

"What is that Zhao Yun?" asked Liu Bei. Yun turned towards him.

"…virtues." Liu Bei looked surprised and Zhao Yun got on his knee and bowed,

"I, Zhao Yun of Chang Shan, ask to pledge my allegiance to you Lord Liu Bei!" Liu Bei contemplated and said,

"First there are questions I would like to ask you; why do you choose to serve me?"

"Because I see you as a strong leader and have a sincerity that is unmatched by any other."

"I see… will you serve diligently and for the glory of the Han?"

"Without question my Lord!"

"Will you serve me with every ounce of strength in your body? Will you follow me anywhere? _Will you give your life for me Zhao Yun?!_" Yun looked up at Liu Bei with determination he had never felt before in his life,

"My Lord…" he said, "I will follow you into the lowest circle of hell and back again!"

"GOOD!" Shouted Liu Bei, he turned east, looked over his shoulder and said, "Because that is exactly where we are headed." And the four took off after the rising sun, heading for a new life.


	6. Among Friends

Among Friends

Zhao Yun sat staring at his full plate; he had picked at it but other than that he hadn't had a single bite. "Zhao Yun, what's the matter? You have barely touched your food." Asked Zhang Fei.

"I am not really feeling well Fei. You can have it if you want." Yun offered his food to Zhang Fei who eagerly accepted. It had been several months since the battle of Hu Lao Gate and Zhao Yun felt he had grown the trust of the men around him. He had not, however, gained the rank of general but was thankful for his rank as lieutenant under Liu Bei. He had become stronger as a warrior as well thanks to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. He was eternally thankful to his new friends and knew he made the right choice in joining Liu Bei.

He also never forgot what had happened at Luo Yang, the crane pendant around his neck made him never forget. Diao Chan never left his thoughts no matter how hard he tried to get her off his mind. He wasn't sure if he thought about her because he had feelings for her or just that she saved his life. Whatever it was he knew that she was the reason why he had trouble eating. Every thing he did he did while thinking about her and for some reason eating made him sick to his stomach when thinking about her. He had never really talked to a girl before and he didn't know if his body was telling him he was in love and he was denying it or if it was something else. He figured she could never have feelings for him so he tried to shoe those feelings away. But why did she save _him_? There were plenty of people that could have helped her and he was even injured. Why him? He knew it was dangerous to be distracted by thoughts like that; it could get him killed if he lost focus. He had made a promise to her late father to give her the pendant around his neck. His thoughts were interrupted by familiar coo and Yun sighed. He excused himself from the officers' table and walked outside the mess tent.

"What do you want from me this time? You already screwed up my first battle now what more do you want?" and the crane landed on a rock and transformed into an old man sitting down with his legs crossed with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Screwed up your battle? My boy can't you see that I have done you a great favor?" Zuo Ci asked. Zhao Yun furiously walked up to Zuo Ci and got right in his face but the old man didn't even flinch.

"You made me fight a man you _knew_ I could never beat and because of it-"

"Because of it you saved the Emperor, made several friends, and ended up here." Zuo Ci interrupted. With that Zhao Yun retreated a little as he thought about what had happened. Zuo Ci was right, if he hadn't convinced Yun to fight Lu Bu he wouldn't have done all of those things. He wondered if he would be where he was now if Zuo Ci hadn't entered his life.

_Was this why the old man had come?_ Wondered Yun. "I am sorry master Zuo, please forgive my rudeness."

"Haha, you do not have to apologize my friend all is well."

"Why have you come Master?"

"I have just come to check up on you my boy. Are things going well?" Yun glanced back at the mess tent and smiled at how lucky he was.

"Yes, things are going great." He realized he would have never met Diao Chan either if not for Zuo Ci. He looked at Zuo Ci and he looked as if he knew Yun's thoughts.

"So you have become acquainted with someone that is not here today." He said this like he was surprised.

"I thought you had planned that as well Master."

"I had planned that you two would meet but I can see that you feel something more towards her." Yun was shocked, this man never ceased to amaze him, how did he know what he thought?

"Was that in your plans for my future as well Master?" Zuo Ci stroked his small beard in thought.

"That depends on what you do with those feelings my friend" Yun was even more confused.

"How does that make sense Master? Either you expected it to happen or you did not which is it?"

"The future is always in motion my boy, I do not know if I intended for it to happen or not because you have not acted on it yet. You see, time is like a tree: the past is like the roots, the present is like the trunk, and the future is like the branches: the future can branch off into an infinite amount of branches but it all depends on what choices are made in the present." Yun started to get a headache trying to make sense of all of this.

"But, if that's true, then why did you come to me to change my future if there is a chance it won't be anything like the future you thought it would be?"

"That is another funny thing about the future: each branch is different but within many, there are similar elements. Some things that I will try to change may not change because they simply cannot be changed."

"But why is that?"

"Even I don't know that, some things just _have_ to be the way they are, or were, or are going to be." Yun's headache just grew worse trying to comprehend more of what Zuo Ci had to say. "Yun please, now is not the time for me to explain all of this. Go and finish your meal, you are among friends now."

Yun agreed and the two said goodbye and parted. For some reason Yun knew that Ci knew that Yun was having problems eating but it was the fact that he could talk with friends. After all, they made him feel so at home and Yun thought he could overcome anything with them at his side. They were the friends one made once every lifetime and he was eternally grateful for their friendship.


	7. Minor Fatigue

Minor Fatigue

"My Lord, we are arriving at the grounds of Xia Pi now." Reported a nearby soldier within earshot.

"Excellent." Replied Cao Cao. Xiahou Dun often wondered about his cousin's decisions but he would follow him to the death if need be.

_Tell me cousin,_ he thought, _why assist a man like Liu Bei? Everyone in China knows that you two will one day become rivals._ Cao Cao's army had been on a several-mile trek to assist Liu Bei on ridding Lu Bu of his control of Xia Pi castle. Lu Bu was a fearsome warrior but was an idiot when it came to politics and strategy. The only person that kept this weakness of his in check was Chen Gong but Cao Cao knew that Lu Bu's stubbornness would eventually force him to do as he wanted instead of listen to the strategist.

"Cousin." Xiahou Dun snapped his head up; startled that Cao had caught him daydreaming. "Please, it is late, you must get some rest before our siege of the castle." And Cao Cao showed Dun to his quarters but, like before all battles, Dun could not rest easily, he was too excited for the day that lay ahead.

* * *

Xiahou Dun twisted and turned in his bunk trying to get to sleep. He shut his eyes for several moments and tried to clear his thoughts but they would always end up on how he was going to fight the battle that was only hours away. He snapped his eyes open and decided that it was his full bladder that was keeping him awake. He knew it wasn't the case but he needed to give himself an excuse for walking around at night.

Once he found a suitable tree by which to do his business, he settled there and focused on the slightly lit, early morning horizon. Dun always thought that night was the time when he felt most comfortable, and now was his favorite time of day. The sun's rays had managed to find their way into the sky but night was not ready to give up its dominion of the heavens.

While he stared at the horizon, he thought sleep was finally creeping over him because he thought he saw floaters out of the corner of his eye. This was until he focused on the spec in his peripheral and it stayed. It seemed to be getting larger, he blinked several times to get a good look at it and it appeared to be moving. Then, the object soared just inches over his head, barely missing him. He was startled so much that he jerked and found himself lying in his tent staring at the ceiling. He was dreaming, he rolled on his side to fall back to sleep again but saw a figure of a man sitting at the foot of his bunk.

Dun leaped out of his bunk and drew his sword, "Who's there!" he demanded. The man then ignited a candle by what looked like a stroke of his hand revealing his face as someone unfamiliar to Dun.

He then pointed the tip of his blade inches from the stranger's face, "I'll ask you again, tell me your name!"

The man then stood up and replied, "Relax my friend, you will know in time when you are ready."

"What do you mean 'ready'?" asked Dun not budging his blade from the man's face.

"You do not want to know my name out of curiosity, you only wan to know it so you may have a reason to kill me as I am a stranger that has intruded on your sleep." Said the man.

"You're damn right!" said Dun still not moving his sword.

"Only when you want to know my name out of curiosity will you discover my identity." Said the man, "Until then, you may wonder..." And the man waved his hands around and transformed into a fearsome warrior that resembled a Lu Bu- type figure and swung his halberd at Dun.

Dun awoke again with a yell and drew his sword to stop the imaginary blow only to find himself looking at a frightened soldier that had apparently awoken Dun.

"Um… s-sir? L-Lord Cao Cao wishes to see you at th-the officer's table sir." Said the skittish soldier. Dun withdrew his sword, and rubbed his eyes.

"Alright I'll be right there." He replied with an annoyed tone in his voice. And the soldier immediately ran off.

Dun was then overcome with the fatigue that a bad night of sleep brought. He wanted more than anything to slump back under his blanket but he was more disciplined than that.

_It was a dream!_ He thought, _all of it!_ He had apparently hallucinated the entire ordeal but it felt so real to him, everything except the man changing his shape to resemble Lu Bu. He tried to forget it as he walked to the officer's tent but knew it would be on his mind for a while.

The generals discussed their plans and Dun did his best to pay attention. He heard something about a flood but only did he hear his name mentioned did he snap back to attention.

"Wha- what?" he said anxiously. The other generals were staring at him confused.

"Relax cousin, I was just saying that you were to be the front line force for the units converging towards the South." explained Cao Cao.

"Oh, okay carry on then." Said Dun followed by a yawn. Dun had already known this from a previous discussion.

"Cousin, did you get enough sleep?" asked Cao Cao.

"Yes, sort of, its nothing for you to be concerned about, carry on the discussion."

"Maybe a good breakfast will help before we go into battle."

"Cousin you know I never eat before a fight."

"Yes but maybe this once-"

"Ahem" interrupted one of Cao Cao's strategists, "I don't mean to intrude but this is a battle plan we are reviewing here, it is very vital."

"Yes, I apologize, please continue." Said Cao Cao. And the generals and strategists reviewed the plan more. Dun felt lucky in that all he was tasked to do was charge the South Gate and pull back when instructed.

He tried to rest his eyes for several moments but his thoughts rested on his dream from the previous night. His thoughts then turned into a repeat of the dream and was awoken in the same spot he was before when the warrior aimed a blow at him. He awoke again with gasp and was staring at his cousin who had awoken him.

"Cousin, are you sure you are ready for battle?" asked Cao.

"Please Cao, I have gone to war with worse, this is only some minor fatigue." Replied Dun.

"Alright, I trust you Dun. I will not expect anything short of your complete best out there." Dun stood up and put his fist and hand together in salute and bowed,

"Always for you, cousin." Cao returned the salute and left the tent. Dun soon followed but he still could not get his mind off of his dream.

_Perhaps the chaos of war will help me forget it._ Thought Dun and he packed his gear for the upcoming fight.


	8. Cries of War

Cries of War

Diao Chan stood staring at her fiery reflection in the small mirror she was given in her "room" that felt much more like a prison. She rarely became angry, it was a trait that when abused showed weakness in her opinion but there were times when it was necessary. She was out of breath after her brief tantrum and her hair lay in a mess. She had just finished reminiscing her "kidnapping" and ran all of the ways it could have gone differently in her head. The only thing that calmed her down was the fact that she had done the job that her father had assigned to her: Dong Zhuo had been killed. Her father… Could he still be alive? Now her fiery reflection's eyes glistened upon being on the brink of tears and her throat was burning as she desperately tried to fight off the reflex to cry.

"No!" she told herself wiping her eyes dry, "I won't cry, it won't change anything." She then thought of the Emperor, how could he survive? Who else was there? Zhao Yun! At the thought of the man she "enlisted" to help her she threw her head into her pillow and let the sobs surge through her. Not only did she ensure the deaths of her father and the Emperor of the Han, but also she forced an innocent boy to help her and for that she sent him to his fate.

She prayed her cries wouldn't be heard throughout the castle, the last thing she needed was company. But why was she so upset over Zhao Yun? Why had she cried so hard over someone like _him_? She could very well have caused the destruction of the entire nation and lengthened the chaos but that didn't start the tears. Instead she cried at the thought of a person she had known for barely an hour being killed. _What have I become?_ She asked herself. _Some Han loyalist I am._ She kept mentally telling herself that it was just the straw that broke the camel's back, that that incident along with the deaths of her father and the Emperor choked her up.

She dismissed the thoughts from her mind, got up from her wet pillow almost dropping its contents. Contents of which could very well spell the end of China if in the wrong hands: the Imperial Seal. If Lu Bu got his hands on the Imperial Seal and surely with the Emperor being dead he would seat himself on the throne and lead China to its doom.

She had gotten the seal by order of her father. She took it without the knowledge of Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu while she stayed with them at Luo Yang. Who knows what disaster they would have caused with it? It's not like any of that matters now that the Emperor had been killed and it was Diao Chan's fault. She looked at herself in the mirror once more with the same rage as before.

"You're pathetic!" She said at herself with utmost rage and she smacked the mirror off the wall and it shattered into several pieces on the stone floor. She turned away and buried her face in her hands.

There was then a pounding on the door followed by the handmaiden's worried voice, "My lady, are you alright?"

"I am fine Xing Mao it was just an accident." Diao Chan then hastily tried to pick the pieces up herself as the handmaiden busted through the door. Diao Chan had apparently been nervous that the handmaiden noticed that she was upset because she couldn't hold onto the glass well enough and a piece slashed along her thumb.

"Ah!" Chan yelped and sucked on the wound.

"Oh heavens, my lady, you are hurt!" cried the handmaiden and she wrapped Chan's hand in a cloth. "Lu Bu will be very displeased at this."

"Please Mao you don't have to-" then a thought crossed her mind: Lu Bu. _He_ was the one who did it all. She may not be able to bring everyone that was lost back but she could sure as hell _avenge_ them. If Lu Bu was gone than all of the chaos could be one step closer to being quelled. But in the end it would be like taking two huge steps backwards and one small step forwards.

"You know Cao Cao and Liu Bei are soon to arrive to try to throw Master Lu out of Xia Pi, but I am confident Master Lu will triumph, aren't you?" asked Xing Mao. Diao Chan then had another idea: maybe she could turn this upcoming battle towards her favor. "Everyone knows that you are his favorite just by the way he looks at you. He would do anything for you I'm sure."

_That's it!_ She thought. Lu Bu really had never listened to anyone except her on everything, even battle plans.

"I think he's handsome-"

"Xing Mao, what are our Lord's plans for this battle?" asked Diao Chan.

"The officers are discussing it as we speak." Replied Xing Mao.

"I'm sorry Mao I must attend to it." Said Diao Chan as she got up and ran down the hallway. Ideas were brewing in her mind.

* * *

_WACK_! Xiahou Dun felt the familiar feeling of blade slicing through flesh as he had dismembered another ballista crew.

"General Xiahou, all of the ballistae have been destroyed on the South Gate." Reported a soldier.

"Good, tell the squads to secure the entrances on top of the gate. Make sure they don't try to sneak reinforcements up here." Ordered Dun.

"Yes sir." Replied the soldier.

Xiahou Dun was ordered to lead the front lines but was not ordered to _be_ on the front lines. He was a leader from the front after all and would not sit and watch others do all of the work he was trained to do while he sat behind some maps and drew pictures of soldiers and what they were to do.

He held his position and waited for further orders. He had secured the South Gate but waited for the rest of the army to flood the gates instead of break them down immediately.

He could finally rest for a few moments. The fury of battle surely did make him forget his exhaustion from the night before but now it all seemed to hit him like a tidal wave. He sat down and shut his eyes for several moments. He could have drifted off into sleep but was interrupted by a cry from a nearby soldier.

"Archers!" Dun snapped his eyes open and looked up to see a storm of arrows raining down on him and his men.

"Take cover!" he yelled but the arrows had hit most of their targets and men started dropping all around him. Dun did everything he could to dodge the onslaught, even batting some of the arrows out of his way with his scimitar.

He soon discovered the irony of his order seeing as how they were on top of the wall of a castle that offered virtually no cover from the air. He then glanced at the nearby river that acted as a moat to the castle. Knowing it was his only hope; he threw his blade down and jumped for the river. He hit the river hard with a splash. He resurfaced and heard another soldier cry, "Sir look out!" Dun looked up to see another storm of arrows for a fraction of a second and then blackness.

All of the cries of war had been muffled and Xiahou Dun was left breathless with a severe pain in his eye. He lay still for several seconds then gathered his strength and rose to the surface of the river where he could stand. He felt a splint of wood coming from his eye and let out a shriek that deafened his own ears for a while. He had been shot in the eye with an arrow.

* * *

"So you're saying to attack them outright?" asked Lu Bu rubbing his chin in thought.

"Yes," replied Chen Gong, "Your strength lies in fighting toe-to-toe, but the enemy will never suspect it seeing as how you are on the defense and are being advised by someone like me."

Lu Bu thought more for a while and agreed with Chen Gong's decision. "It's settled then, assemble the troops, we will take the fight to the enemy!"

"Wait Lord Lu Bu!" interrupted Diao Chan, "What if the enemy ambushed the castle? How will you protect the people?"

"That's irrelevant! The enemy is too far from-"

"Silence!" shouted Lu Bu at Chen Gong, "Diao Chan has a point, how will the people survive if the enemy uses a sneak attack? More importantly, how will _you_ be protected Diao Chan?"

_Bingo!_ Thought Diao Chan as a smirk crept past her and she tried to instantly hide it. Lu Bu would do anything she wanted if it meant that she would be safe. It was moments like this when Diao Chan thought that maybe in another life she could have fallen for Lu Bu, but this life wasn't it. He was nicest to her than he ever was to anyone but the only thing he seemed to know how to do was kill. But when it came to being a human, he was like an immature toddler.

It was then that she noticed that Chen Gong had seen through her masquerade. "You…" he said pointing his finger at her and slowly walking in her direction, "You had plans to sabotage this entire battle!" and he drew his sword and charged at her but was easily stopped by Lu Bu. Bu then threw him backwards and closed in for the kill.

"My Lord, please, you must see that she is just using you and that she has plans to destroy us!" begged Chen Gong. Lu Bu stopped and looked at Diao Chan,

"Is this true Diao Chan?" he asked.

"What? No! _He_ has been devising to overthrow you all along." She said pointing at Chen Gong. "He's been blaming me for what _he's _been planning to do this whole time! He knows that if you charge to the front than the enemy will sneak up on our rear and take the castle!"

"What? That is a lie you worthless whore!" screamed Chen Gong.

"I will hear no more from you." Bu retorted coldly. He raised his halberd for the kill but was interrupted again by Chen Gong.

"No, my Lord, you cannot possibly command your army without me! Who will devise the strategies?" begged Chen Gong.

"So far a 'worthless whore' has come up with better strategies than you." Bu raised his halberd again but was stopped again by Chen Gong.

"No!" he cried as he squirmed his way out of Bu's grasp, "I will not die like a lowly dog begging for his life!" and he swung at Lu Bu but Bu countered and sliced cleanly through Gong's torso. Diao Chan and the rest of the audience then let out a gasp as the two halves of Chen Gong fell to the ground with the same expression he had on his face the moment he died.

Lu Bu looked at Zhang Liao, "Liao, ready your men, you will lead a frontal assault on my command."

"Yes my lord." Said Zhang Liao as he bowed and dismissed himself.

_Zhang Liao!_ Chan thought, _he was there the whole time and he knows! I _know_ he knows. But why didn't he do anything? He's planning something I know he is!_

"I am sorry you had to see that Diao Chan." Said Lu Bu turning around to face Diao Chan, "And I am also sorry for the 'worthless whore' part. I did not mean a word."

"It's okay…" She said staring at Chen Gong's opened, dead eyes that seemed to still be looking at her, staring at her very soul, "I understand."

* * *

"Get a Medic quick!" shouted another nearby soldier. "Sir please you need get out of the water, it will only get worse."

"THERE'S NO POSSIBLE WAY IT COULD GET ANY WORSE YOU PATHETIC TWIT!!!" shouted Xiahou Dun randomly towards the direction of the soldier. He was frozen where he was by the pain. Every movement of his eye, every small gust of the wind pulled on the arrow and increased the pain tenfold.

"NnnnnnnnnnnneeeeAAAAAHHH!" He cried again out of frustration and pain of his predicament. He barely opened his good eye to be greeted by the site of blood pouring from the wound into the muddy river and washing away in crimson swirls along the current of the small river. Two men then grabbed him and dragged him to land and Xiahou Dun wanted with all of his might to detour them even kill them for adding to the pain but was too frozen to move.

Once he regained the ability to move and was on land again, he pushed the soldiers away. He grew almost accustomed to the pain as the freezing cold water had numbed it and he dared to open his eye again and glanced at the horrified faces around him, they obviously weren't accustomed to seeing an arrow shaft coming out of a man's eye and wiggling every time he looked around.

"Give me my sword!" Dun demanded.

"But sir, it's still-"

"I gave you an order soldier!" he shouted at the soldier and glared directly at him with his good eye.

"Yes sir!" shouted the soldier as he fetched Dun's scimitar and presented it to him. Dun took it and lazily walked over to a ladder attached to the wall of the castle and climbed up it, careful not to snag the arrow on a rung.

Once he made it to the top he looked toward the enemy garrisons that were cheering at the success of their attack. He pointed his sword at the troops and shouted, "You think that a mere arrow can stop the great Xiahou Dun? Well think again you brainless cowards!" and Xiahou Dun bent down and grasped the arrow shaft and pulled with all he could muster. "YeeAAAHHH!" He screamed as the arrow left his eye after being in there for what seemed like days but his eye came with it, tendon, muscle and all. The pain had become almost more than he could bare but it only fueled his rage. Blood splattered out of his eye socket and onto his blade. He could feel the warmth of the fluid streaming down face and into his inner layer of armor, it had warmed him slightly.

"You let your pansy-of-a-lord Lu Bu know that his death will be at the hands of Xiahou Dun!" he shouted at the enemy. Dun then lifted the arrow above his head so all could see and lowered the front into his mouth and pulled the eye off with his teeth. The metallic taste of blood and the squishing of the still warm eyeball, muscles, and tendons filled his mouth as he chewed and had also warmed him from the cold of the water. Once he swallowed the eye, he wrapped cloth from his clothes around his eye and looked out over the castle wall.

He heard shouts like "he's a monster!" and "that's impossible!" as they ran in fear from him. And then like it had been planned, the order for the flood had been issued. The gate smashed open, unable to carry the weight of the raging water and swept away the retreating soldiers.

Dun looked out over his side of the wall and shouted, "Come on! We will charge onward to victory!" and was welcomed by a shout of several hundred men rushing through the gate. "Lu Bu's head is mine!" he promised himself as he jumped down to join them.

* * *

Xiahou Dun and his men slaughtered their way past what was left of Lu Bu's forces. They had only paused to witness a fight between Lu Bu's officer Zhang Liao and an officer under Liu Bei named Guan Yu. He was intrigued by both men's abilities especially Guan Yu's.

_This man could be a threat._ He thought. The man was fearsome and Dun knew he would be a problem in the future, but now he watched as Guan Yu had subdued his foe and Dun rode onward.

Dun's incident with his eye had encouraged his men like nothing before as they were on the front of every charge through any gate they passed through. Lu Bu apparently had enough of sitting behind a gate and charged through it with the intent of charging the Allies' main camp. He did not get far when two officers of Liu Bei: Zhang Fei and Guan Yu stopped the beast. Liu Bei charged the main camp and Dun was instructed as well but ignored it. He abandoned his post and charged Lu Bu directly and joined the fray. Others had soon followed as well and a huge mass of soldiers and officers had begun trying to take down the monster.

Lu Bu had held his own as was expected and cut through many but the combined strength of several of Cao Cao and Liu Bei's greatest generals finally subdued Lu Bu and captured the main section of the castle. The battle had ended.


	9. The Executioner

The Executioner

"Lord Lu Bu has been captured, the battle is lost!" Shouted a nearby servant that had witnessed the battle from an observation tower. Diao Chan now felt guilty about doing the last part of her plan: now that she had forced Lu Bu to make the mistake of staying in the castle, she had to flee like a coward. Her self-esteem was already at an all time low and she thought that doing this would make her feel better but so far she felt like she betrayed a friend.

"Everyone! You must leave! Get out any way you can!" she ordered the scared servants, maidens and other attendees of the castle. Diao Chan left the main tower and headed to her quarters to pack up and leave. She had to do it stealthfully because Cao Cao's troops had already entered much of the castle and would take anyone associated with Lu Bu as a prisoner.

Chan felt a tug on her skirt; she looked down to see three frightened children looking up at her. "Please Lady Diao," said the oldest one, a girl, "Our father left to go stop the bad people from getting us but he hasn't come back. We have nowhere to go. Can you please take us with you?"

Chan paused to think about this, "Where is your mother?" she asked them.

"Mommy ran away a long time ago," the same child replied, "We haven't seen her since." Diao Chan didn't have time to smuggle three children out of a castle, she had worse problems. She damned her feminine and motherly qualities and couldn't help herself but to help the kids.

"Okay you can stay with me until we find the nearest town," she told them, "Right now you need to do exactly as I say." The children agreed and followed her to her quarters.

Along the way, one of them fell and twisted his ankle. "AAAHHH!!" he cried, but was muffled by Diao Chan's hand.

"Shhh!" she whispered, "Please you must be quiet. Can you walk?" the boy tried to balance his weight but collapsed and winced in pain.

"It hurts!" he whispered with tears forming in his eyes.

"Okay," said Diao Chan and she lifted the boy on her shoulders, "Stay very quiet please."

The trip was severely hindered by the three children; they would easily run out of breath and had to take breaks often, and the boy on Chan's back had to constantly readjust himself because of his ankle and it used up precious time. The majority of the time they were almost back-to-back with enemy troops.

Once they had made it to Chan's quarters, she lifted the boy off her back. "Stay here and don't make a sound." She ordered. She opened the door as quietly as she could. She could hear soldiers on the levels above and below them and her hopes for escaping were diminishing fast. She grabbed her chain whip and packs full of food, canteens of water and a first aid kit that would suffice for a few days, a small knife and most important of all: she packed the Imperial Seal.

Once everything was packed, Chan turned around to see Xing Mao the handmaiden. "Oh thank the heavens! Mao please you must help me get these children to safety." Gasped Chan.

"I'm not helping you do anything else my Lady." Mao then showed that she was brandishing a sword that her feeble body couldn't hold up right.

"Mao… what are you doing?" Chan made sure her chain whip was within reach and started backing away.

"You were treated like a princess by him and for what? Your pretty little face!" said Mao, as her voice grew steadily louder.

"Please Mao they'll hear-"

"And even with that you threw all of his graciousness away!" Mao was yelling by now.

"What are you-"

"_I did everything for him and got squat!"_ Shouted Mao.

"Please Mao please!" Chan was begging her now.

"I know it was _you_ that set him up, I know you were plotting ways to bring him down even after he did all of those things for you!" shouted Mao. Diao Chan looked around to see if any soldiers were coming and made sure the children were all right. "Instead you used him to do your bidding like a spoiled rat!"

"Mao you _must_ move!" declared Chan but this only seemed to enrage Mao even more.

"Now you can think about your wrongs as you rot in _hell_!" and Mao swung her sword at Chan but Chan blocked and hit her just hard enough to knock her down.

"I am sorry Mao, what I do must be done." And Chan started to gather the children. Mao sat up and spat blood at Chan,

"I loathed the time I had to clean up all of your _shit_ and pampered you like a selfish _bitch!_" At the shouting of the last word, she through her sword at Chan but it didn't go far and landed at her feet. Chan then tried to make her way past Mao but was cut off by dozens of soldiers cladded in blue.

"Haha, yes I sent for them," Mao laughed, "I knew you would be here once you had carried out your little _plan_." Chan had never seen Mao this angry before and was almost brought to tears by what she really thought of Chan and how Chan couldn't tell her the truth.

"Why Mao?" Chan pleaded, "I trusted you."

"Now you know how it feels!" Mao retorted.

"Hand yourself over!" demanded a soldier. Chan looked at the formation of the troops around her and the distance from the children to the end of the hallway.

"I said surrender!" the soldier said, and Diao Chan swung around and subdued a small group of soldiers that blocked her from the children. She ran over to them and handed them the sack she had packed, "Go, take this, care for your brother!" the eldest nodded and picked up her younger brother and the smaller girl had taken the sack and the children ran down the hallway as Diao Chan tried to fight off more troops but more kept coming.

Chan could not hold any longer and allowed herself to be taken. One of the soldiers pointed at the children already halfway down the hallway, "Sir what about them?"

"Let them go, they can't do any harm." The sergeant replied. "We have something our lord will love to see." He said devilishly and the surrounding soldiers developed a similar looking snarl on their faces. Diao Chan could do nothing but prepare for the worst.

* * *

"Lu Bu!" stated Cao Cao, "You have taken this castle illegally and are responsible for the deaths of thousands." Lu Bu just snarled at the leader as he was tied down by rope and beaten into submission. "Because of which you will be put to death for your crimes." Lu Bu's expression did not change as he continued to glare at Cao Cao.

"Cousin," said Xiahou Dun,

"Yes Dun?" said Cao Cao,

"I would like to deliver this beast to his doom if I may," he pointed to his missing eye, "I believe I deserve revenge."

"Very well, you may do it as you like." And Cao Cao stepped back to give his cousin room.

Xiahou Dun gripped his sword and held it level to Lu Bu's neck, drawing an imaginary line with his mind on where the blow would be delivered. He held it there for a few moments more and was interrupted by a soldier.

"Sir we have another prisoner." He said bringing in a bonded woman.

"Diao Chan!" gasped Lu Bu and the girl tried not to look him in the eye, tears were streaming down her face.

"Ah, it seems our guests know each other." Said Cao Cao, " Well she can enjoy the show as well."

"I didn't want this for you my sweet." Lu Bu said to Diao Chan.

"You should've," grumbled Zhang Liao who was also tied up at Lu Bu's side. It was the first words anyone had heard him say since he was tied up. "You owe your situation to her after all."

"What are you talking about Liao?" asked Bu.

"I mean that she has betrayed you from the beginning." Said Zhang Liao with a monotone. "She was given to you and Dong Zhuo by the Han to split you two apart by allowing herself to get close to the two of you."

"You lie!" barked Bu,

"No! Every injury that she blamed on Dong Zhuo was self-inflicted! In fact she even sabotaged this battle as well." He said louder now.

"No! I won't hear anything like that especially from you!" yelled Bu, "What is with you people today? Why would you say such a thing about Diao Chan?"

"Maybe because it's the truth!" yelled Zhang Liao, his sudden raise in volume made nearby officers jump. He made Xiahou Dun intrigued,

_He is surely one to be feared._ Dun thought.

Lu Bu looked at Diao Chan with a puzzled look on his face, "Diao Chan," he asked, "Please tell me the truth, is all of this true? What they say about you?" Diao Chan stared at one spot in the cloudy sky and more tears continued to flow even faster down her cheeks, trying not to make eye contact again. Lu Bu's eyes began to widen as he had apparently found the truth from Diao Chan's lack of words. "But… why? After everything-"

"I've heard enough!" Xiahou Dun became annoyed, "Lu Bu your life ends here!" and he raised his sword above his head. Diao Chan then finally looked Lu Bu in the eyes, "I'm sorry!" she croaked. She watched as the light fled from Bu's eyes as the blade came down on him. She blinked and tears strolled ever faster down her cheeks.

Xiahou Dun moved to Zhang Liao ready to deliver another lethal blow but stopped.

"Cousin," he said.

"What is it Dun?" asked Cao Cao.

"What has this man done?" Dun asked, Cao Cao looked at him confused,

"He has helped with war crimes, he deserves death." Said Cao Cao,

"Did he do them on purpose?" asked Xiahou Dun, "Or was he loyally following his lord?"

"Well…" this made Cao Cao think, "I believe you have a point cousin, he was only being a faithful follower."

"What shall we do with him?" asked Dun, "We shouldn't punish one for something like that."

"Yes, untie him." Ordered Cao Cao, "He may be of some use." Xiahou Dun followed the order and freed Zhang Liao of his bonds.

"I thank you my lord Cao Cao." Said Zhang Liao as he bowed in salute.

"Come Zhang Liao, we must talk." Said Cao Cao.

"Cousin, what of the other one?" asked Dun pointing to Diao Chan.

"Oh, dispose of her." He took Zhang Liao aside to talk to him. Xiahou Dun walked over to the weeping songstress and held his blade over her head. She stared back at him through teary yet fiery eyes. It was like she wanted to die.

"Do it!" she said in a low, angry tone. Dun lifted his sword up but again was stopped.

"Wait!" he heard a yell from the audience.

"AaaahhHH!" Dun shouted as he through his sword into the ground, "What the hell is it now?" he turned around to the person who said it. It was a young man cladded in green, obviously an officer of Liu Bei's.

"This woman is loyal to the Han." The man said, "She was the reason behind the separation of Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu. She helped save the Emperor!"

"Zhao Yun that was you who saved the Emperor, not her." Said Liu Bei.

"No my lord," said the man as he turned around to face his lord, "She is the one who helped me, the one I told you about." Liu Bei looked at the woman with a curious look on his face.

"She may be of some use," he said to himself, "Zhao Yun, what would you have me do?"

* * *

"Free her!" Diao Chan heard the familiar voice that she heard before.

_Who is that?_ She thought, not that it mattered anyway, she was going to die and she was glad. One second she was going to have her fate handed to her by a one- eyed man and the next he was stopped and he walked over to two other men that she couldn't see because the tears in her eyes had blurred her vision. Now she stared at the dirt she was kneeling on that was wet from her tears.

She heard footsteps coming toward her, she looked up to see the man from before but he didn't have a sword. He had an angry look on his face as he bent down to untie her.

"Wait, what are you doing?" asked Chan.

"I'm freeing you, what does it look like?" the man said.

"Why?"

"Because _someone_ apparently has grown fond you." The man mumbled pointing over his shoulder at the two men that slowly faded into focus as her tears dried. One she recognized but didn't know his name and the other was… Zhao Yun! She felt like she had just dropped a one-ton rock from her back that had been on there for years.

_He's alive!_ She screamed over and over again her mind. For the first time in months she smiled like she never had. Once the man had untied her she stood up and ran over to Zhao Yun almost collapsing as the blood ran from her head because she got up too fast. Once she made her way to him she hugged him so tight that she heard his armor creek from the pressure.

"Thank you!" she said into his chest as she cried tears of joy this time, as if she had any tears left. He wrapped his arms around her and gently pulled her off of him. She looked in his eyes and gave a weak laugh that faded into a frown. He had a solemn look in his face, "What's wrong?" she asked, he opened his mouth to reply but the one-eyed man cut him off.

"You will be coming with me." he said, "Lord Cao Cao could use a concubine from this long trip."

"What? No this isn't fair!" she yelled, but the man grabbed her arm and pulled her in the other direction.

"Wait Xiahou Dun!" called Zhao Yun, "I think I deserve to speak to her before you take her." Xiahou Dun then ripped his hand off of Diao Chan in anger.

"Go!" he demanded, "But you will stop when I say so." Zhao Yun bowed his head in agreement.

* * *

The two were alone in a tent and Zhao Yun had a déjà vu of Hu Lao Gate. The only difference was that it wasn't freezing outside and Diao Chan didn't have those angelic features she had before. Yun was quickly starting to miss that, she was ill, battle-worn, pale, too thin and she looked like she hadn't eaten anything decent for weeks maybe months. The worst thing of it all was that her laugh and her smile were only followed by solemn looks and tears.

"Why?" she started, "Why did you save me? I am responsible for killing the Emperor… and my father. You should have let me stay!"

"What?" said Yun, "That's how you thank me? I don't get you Chan, you save my life and then you ask me to hit you and thank me for it."

"Yun-"

"Then you are kidnapped and thrown onto Death's doorstep, saved and are asking to be on death row again. What is wrong with you!" shouted Yun.

"_Maybe it's because I killed my father and the Emperor! Maybe it's because I tried to earn redemption by betraying someone who put their complete trust in me! Maybe it's because I'm going to be made some maniac's little whore for heaven knows how long!"_ she barked back. "What would you feel like Yun?" she said softly. Yun ran his hand through his hair and leaned on a food barrel.

"Well first of all you didn't kill the Emperor," he said.

Chan nodded, "And my father?" she turned away and said even softer, Yun's silence answered her question. The silence lasted for a moment too long.

"He died like a hero," Yun said and Chan did everything she could to keep from crying again.

_No!_ She told herself,_ you won't cry! Not in front of him!_ Her tears had been converted into anger and she punched a crate full of food.

Yun was still unfazed by this, "Chan it was because of him that the Emperor and I escaped."

She turned away further and her eyes burned as she closed them to force the tears back. Yun slowly walked up to her. He stood beside her for a few seconds with his head bowed. His hand seemed to automatically rise and it rested on her shoulder.

Chan let it all go, she snapped around and buried her face in Yun's chest and sobbed harder than she had the entire day. Yun held her and lightly kissed her head and they both sunk to the ground on their knees and remained there for the rest of the time.

* * *

Xiahou Dun tapped on the tent telling the two that their time was up. Diao Chan walked out solemnly and walked with a soldier to her carriage, sneaking one last look at Zhao Yun before being taken out of the grounds.

Once the carriage was gone, Dun broke the awkward silence, "Amazing how a woman's beauty works on the mind of a man." Zhao Yun shot him a dirty look,

"What are you talking about?" he asked spitefully.

"The reason you saved her," he said, " we both know you didn't do it for all that 'Han loyalist' bullshit, you couldn't resist her pretty little eyes, huh?"

Zhao Yun walked towards the direction of his camp and stopped when he was adjacent to Dun but didn't turn around, "Your despicable, you and your whole damn army." But before Yun could storm off Dun stopped him with an open hand.

"Where did you come from anyway?" he asked, "I never saw you on the front lines and you don't look like the strategist type, so where were you?" Yun still didn't look at him,

"If you must know I was guarding the rear," he said, "I halted a scout unit of reinforcements, it scared the bulk of the reinforcements lead by Yuan Shu out of participating in the battle on Lu Bu's side." Dun's hand was still at Yun's chest but Yun sidestepped and walked aggressively toward his camp. Dun soon followed and joined his fellow troops at the parallel camp. They started packing already.

Dun walked up to his cousin, "Strange group of men that Liu Bei has."

"Why do you say that Dun?"

"On one hand you have men like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei that would stop at nothing to totally destroy the enemy," he said. Cao Cao looked at him curiously.

"On the other hand, you have men like Zhao Yun that will fight at all costs to save lives, even the enemy's."

"Yes, you make a very valid point Dun." Said Cao, "it is a quality we should be mindful of. It could either be a great strength or a great weakness. You know I have exchanged an agreement with Liu Bei, in return for our help his brother Guan Yu has joined us for the time."

Dun fidgeted a little, "There is something about that Guan Yu I feel."

"And what is that?"

"Either he will be a great ally or an arch nemesis."

"I feel that as well but with you and that Zhao Yun I think."

Dun looked at the young general, "He's just a boy, I know his type: merciful and innocent, a sign of weakness."

"Be careful of what you say cousin, you may confuse what it is your feelings are trying to tell you."

"Will you ever change Cao?" Cao Cao ignored the comment and mounted his horse.

"Did you hear that Yuan Shu tried to aid Lu Bu during the battle today but was routed? I admire the man that had done that."

"Hmm, so it is true, yes I did hear that." He said thinking of what Zhao Yun had said before he left. _Maybe he could be a rival of mine… someday._


	10. The Ways of Nature

The Ways of Nature

**NOTE: This is a reminder that this does NOT comply with history, or even the game for that matter.**

* * *

The child hobbled her way through the abandoned city that was ridden with filth. She and her siblings had been wandering for days and had been attacked by thieves looking for any sort of essentials that the chaos had taken away from them. The thieves took their food by force and the eldest had fended them off as best as she could with the small knife that was given to them, but for that the thieves then attacked and killed the girl. The other girl could do nothing but take off with what little food there was and had to leave her injured brother behind. She didn't look back as not to see what the thieves would do with the boy.

Zuo Ci sat patiently on his perch and watched the girl make her way through the city. He wanted to help the girl but knew that he couldn't, he was waiting for something to happen. Nature's ways were fairly cruel in some instances but they always turned out for the better in the end. Zuo Ci thought this was a beautiful process: when one dies, their spirit ascends to the heavens while their body feeds the earth that the rest of life on the planet gets sustenance from. Though most cursed death, it is necessary for nature to continue on.

The girl finally arrived at a section of the city that was populated with a military force. Zuo Ci looked up to the sky and spoke,

"This could get interesting, I wonder what it is you plan to do."

The girl forced with all of her might into the gate of a small camp. "What is that?" said a nearby officer to himself. When he realized it was a girl he ran over to her just in time to catch her from falling.

"Get a medic quick!" yelled the officer. The girl was holding on to her life by a hair. "It's okay, you'll be just fine." Said the officer with comforting words that seemed to be the contrary to his overall appearance: he was an old, built officer that wielded a large rod of some sort and his scars told that he had more than his fair share of battles.

Despite his frightening appearance he comforted the girl to the best of his ability. The girl then reached into her bag with a shaking hand and pulled out a small box. "I… I ca-…" She tried to say.

"You… you what?" asked the officer. The girl placed the small box in his hand.

"Please…" she said weakly but never finished her sentence. The girl's eyes faded away and her body became limp. The officer bowed his head and then closed her eyes and he carried her back to camp. He examined the box and placed it in his pocket.

Zuo Ci then witnessed the spirits of the girl's two siblings skip hand-and-hand through the clouds and bring the little girl's spirit with them back to the heavens.

"The ways of nature are so wonderful." He said to himself.

"Huang Gai," said a man that Zuo Ci recognized to be the eldest son of Sun Jian, Sun Ce. "What… who is that?" he asked.

"I don't know," replied Huang Gai, "But she gave me this" and Huang Gai gave Sun Ce the box.

"Have you opened it?" he asked.

"No," Gai replied, "I didn't know if it was the right time, the girl just passed away."

"Oh," said Ce, his excited expression falling to a sorrowful face. He took the box and opened it. His expression then lifted to one of surprise. "Look!" he yelled, "Is this what I think it is?"

Huang Gai then examined it; it was the Imperial Seal. "I think we should show our lord." He proposed.

Zuo Ci lifted himself up with his wings and soared over the town, "Well I guess fate has given me another apprentice, I will meet with this one soon. In the meantime I have more to do." He said to himself as he headed north.

* * *

"Father look what we've found!" said Sun Ce eagerly as he and Huang Gai walked over to Sun Jian. Sun Ce showed him the seal.

"It's the Imperial Seal my lord." Said Huang Gai, "They say whoever possesses it has the right to be on the Imperial Throne." Sun Jian looked disgusted,

"That's all just idiotic superstition," he said, "I'd never do that!"

Zhou Yu then stepped in, "Yes my lord but the people believe that it is true," he said.

"Ah, yes," Sun Jian agreed, "it could be a powerful tool." And he began to ponder on the thought.

* * *

Xiahou Dun rolled to the left to evade another blow by Guan Yu, he sprang back up to his feet and countered the bearded warrior's attack only to have his assault blocked as well. The two became stuck in a deadlock for some time, neither of them willing to give up. They finally broke the lock and readied themselves for another attack, but neither of them tried. Both were too tired to carry on for the time and they decided to call it quits.

Cao Cao walked slowly up to the both of them clapping his hands, "Well done, you both have improved since the last time I saw you two fight." He said, "It almost looked like you wanted to kill Guan Yu, Xiahou Dun." Dun just cracked his neck and pretended not to hear his cousin.

"We are moving out tomorrow to attack Yuan Shao," Cao said, "That means you as well, Guan Yu." Guan Yu bowed his head,

"Yes lord Cao Cao."

Xiahou Dun let out a "Hmpf" under his breath in disgust at bringing Yu to the battle, but no one seemed to notice.

While Dun was walking back to his quarters something caught his eye, he looked to his left, which was hard to do as his left eye was covered with an eye patch from the previous battle with Lu Bu. He saw a strange bird sitting on a tree branch. If it was any other bird he would have kept going, but something drew him to the bird.

It cooed at him playfully and Dun walked up to it a little more. He reached up to touch it and to his surprise, it wasn't flying away. He stroked it once and the bird snapped around and bit his finger and flew off.

"Ah, damnit!" yelled Dun, the bird seemed to be laughing at him. Dun sucked his finger to try to get rid of the pain and he heard a voice.

"Curiosity is a virtue at times but you must be careful my friend." Dun whipped around to see an old man on a tree branch; the branch seemed to not know he was sitting there, as it did not bend at all.

"You!" Dun said pointing his sword at the man, "You were the one in my dream!"

"Ah yes I was." Said the man.

"Wait," Dun said turning around, "If you were in my dream before than that means I'm dreaming now. But how? I feel so awake and I don't remember falling asleep."

The old man was laughing hysterically, "You don't have to trouble yourself trying to remember when you last fell asleep, you are wide awake." Dun looked at the man like he had just insulted him.

"Who are you then? This time tell me! And don't give me that genie horsecrap from before." The man continued laughing but not as hard this time.

"Now that you truly seek my name out of curiosity and that you cannot kill me for I am out of your reach, I will tell you. See? Curiosity can be a virtue at times."

"Just tell me!" barked Dun. The man looked like he had been insulted as well,

"You will also learn that patience is a virtue that is always beneficial." He jumped off from his branch and bowed, "My name is Zuo Ci, I have come here to help you do what must be done."

"What do you mean?" Dun asked,

"You are meant to do great things but it is unclear whether you will live up to those things," Zuo Ci said, "I am here to make sure that you do."

_Great, some maniac gypsy trying to squeeze some gold off of me for telling me my future._ Dun thought, Zuo Ci started laughing again.

"Haha, that is one that never gets old, huh?"

"What? What are you talking about? Did you just…" Dun stopped and tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Yes I can read your mind to an extent that is." Said Zuo Ci.

"Alright old man," said Dun, "What is it you want me to do?"

"You are a man of war right"

"…Yes."

"You know the chaos of battle but do not know the subtlety of peace." Dun stared at him in wonder of where he was going with what he said.

"You are not in touch with your sensitive feelings." Dun then took several steps back,

"Ho-ho, uh I don't think so, I'm not into that kinda stuff! I prefer women sorry!" Zuo Ci went into a fit of laughter that took several minutes for him to overcome.

"Oh, you are too good my friend," he took a few deep breaths, "in this next battle you will kill hundreds."

_As is expected._ Thought Dun, Zuo Ci looked at him like he had just disrupted him, then Dun remembered that he knew what he was thinking.

Zuo Ci cleared his throat, "As well as killing hundreds, you must find a violet and bring it back to me."

Dun was confused more than before, "A… flower?"

"Precisely."

"Why?" Zuo Ci held up a finger,

"Ah, you will know when you finish the task." Ci turned around, "until then I wish you luck." And he walked into the woods and disappeared.

"Wait!" called Dun, he chased after him in the forest but saw nothing but the bird from before fly over his head cooing excitedly. Dun watched as it faded from view.

He bent down and plucked a dandelion from the ground, "A flower?" he asked to no one, and he smelled it but found that it had no scent. He through the weed down and shook his head laughing all the while. "Alright, I'll do it. I don't see the use for it though." He said to himself. He made his way back to the main headquarters of the camp to pack for war.


	11. The Tiger's Journey to Heaven

The Tiger's Journey to Heaven

Sun Jian stormed out of his headquarters and made his way down the stairs to his personal quarters. He had obviously received the news that the rest of the officers had been told several minutes before: Yuan Shao wanted Sun Jian's head. Sun Jian had used the Imperial Seal to gather more forces so that he could take the land of Wu. Yuan Shao knew that Sun Jian was obviously not the one next in line to take the throne. Shao reported this to the Emperor, but his Highness just shooed him away saying that he had more important things to do. Yuan Shao just became more infuriated and decided to pursue Sun Jian himself.

"Your father seems upset." Said Huang Gai to Sun Ce.

"Well how would you feel if you received a death note from someone?" asked Sun Ce, also slightly nervous about his father.

Sun Jian's force had been preparing to take the land of Wu that was rightfully theirs. Huang Gai hoped for his men to be in good spirits but after hearing about their lord their morale had taken a nosedive.

"Huang Gai," Sun Jian's strategist Zhou Yu called from across the camp in his tent, "hurry you must ready your troops." Gai gave a small but visible nod towards his direction and he set off to give his speech to his troops.

* * *

The land of Wu was beautiful; the sun glistened off of the small rivers that intersected the battlefield. Huang Gai started off the battle by taking a small, nearby castle by surprise and swiftly disposed of its troops, securing a forward command base for Sun Jian.

"Good work Gai," Jian said patting his friend on the shoulder, "We can't lose with you on our side." Gai opened his mouth to speak when a soldier who had gone to put Sun Jian's red banner over the fort had dropped the flag due to the wind and it landed gently at Sun Jian's feet.

"Oh," said Jian with a relaxed tone of voice, "I'll just go to return this." Huang Gai had a bad feeling in his chest. He couldn't get his mind over the fact that that could have been a bad omen and it lingered over his lord. He dismissed it as he had work to do and he and his men were doing flawlessly.

All of Sun Jian's forces had swept through the battlefield effortlessly and had left only a handful of enemy positions left standing. All was looking well…

* * *

A messenger came panting his way up to Sun Jian's forward command post.

"Sir…" he gasped for air, "Yuan Shu, he has taken a position towards our rear and right flank. What shall we do sir?" Jian was shocked only briefly by this news.

"Yuan Shu is a tyrant," he said, "He comes here to take the land from us, we'll ride out and meet him. Send word to the other officers." He demanded and the messenger complied.

* * *

Huang Gai had received news of Yuan Shu joining the battle and also learned of his lord riding out to meet him face to face. He turned around and immediately rode towards the Northeast. It wasn't long before he saw Sun Ce close on his trail. It crossed his mind that this wasn't the wisest of decisions to abandon his post on the front but his lord was in danger.

* * *

Sun Jian and his army had held off Yuan Shu fairly well and Sun Jian had made it to only several yards away from his main encampment.

"Yuan Shu!" he shouted, "Come and face me man to man! I will gut you like a pig you traitor!" He caught a glimpse of a disturbance in the enemy ranks and realized that it was soldiers parting a way for someone: Yuan Shu.

The man had arrived with a feeble sword and an undeserved sense of confidence. Sun Jian had only meant to enrage Yuan Shu into doing something rash, he didn't mean to actually confront him.

_What an idiot!_ Jian thought, _does he have a death wish?_ Jian new of Shu's ability as a fighter and it was less to be envied. Jian couldn't recall a time when the man had even scored a kill in battle at all; all he ever did was hide behind his men and let them do the work while he shouted orders at them like they were dogs.

Their swords crossed and already Jian had the upper hand, the sudden force from the clash had caught Shu off balance. Shu did his best to parry any attacks thrown at him but Jian was merely warming up.

After Yuan Shu had embarrassed himself for several minutes, Jian decided to end it with a sidekick to Shu's chest and it knocked him to the ground. Jian held his blade at Shu's throat and he was shocked that he did not have that look of fear in his eyes at all. Jian heard the cries of men around him and he recognized them as shouts of triumph from his men. He dared not break eye contact with Yuan Shu and asked what had happened.

"It is Huang Gai and Sun Ce!" he heard someone shout, "They have come with reinforcements!" Sun Jian decided to end it there and he lifted his sword over his head and Yuan Shu still had a look of triumph on his face. In fact he started laughing and Jian stopped and looked at him with suspicion.

"What do you find so funny?" he yelled. Shu then laughed harder and gave a wave of his hand. With that Jian heard more cries of war but they were foreign to his ears. He turned around to see a mass of yellow-cladded men swarm on a nearby hilltop, many of which armed with bows and arrows. He saw a wave of a soldier's hand and the men released their arrows. He disengaged his fight with Yuan Shu and tried to bat away the endless stream of arrows. The archers were alternating back and forth keeping up a constant assault of arrows and Sun Jian found it harder and harder to defend himself. Yuan Shu then jumped up and kept the fight going between the two. Jian knew that he was doomed; he couldn't do both tasks at once despite being the great fighter that he was. He became caught in a deadlock with the warlord and it was then when his eye caught an arrow at the vary time it was released. He watched it soar through the sky like it was a bird and it seemed to hang there for an eternity like it was taunting him. He saw it fade into a single dot in the sky and he followed it as it sank through his armor and pierced through flesh.

He took a step back and tried to pull it out but Yuan Shu took the initiative and struck him with a slash to his midsection. Jian's armor blocked what it could of the weak blow but it still sliced through his skin. Jian tried to engage Shu again but was again brought to his knees from another arrow and Shu stabbed him through his shoulder and Jian let out a yell in pain.

"Do it!" Jian yelled, "Take me!" But Shu just smiled as he pulled his blade from Jian's shoulder and walked away leaving him there to suffer. Jian knew the pain wouldn't have been this bad if he was in a different circumstance but the aggravation of Shu just walking away added to the pain tenfold.

Jian looked up and watched as another storm of arrows descended upon him. He raised his hands up and let out a shout the made everyone stop and stare at him.

"For the Sun family!" His voice carried far across the battlefield and did not fall on a deaf ear anywhere.

He welcomed his impending doom and yelled triumphantly until the arrows obscured everyone's view of him. When the storm had ceased, he lay on the ground lifeless, but with a smile on his face.

* * *

"No," Sun Ce gasped as he fell to his knees, he had just witnessed his father's death. "Father!" he shouted to the heavens. He kneeled on the ground for several moments and Huang Gai bowed his head in respect and in sorrow. Ce then stood up enraged,

"Assemble the men, we are going to launch a counter-attack." He said sternly.

"But Ce-" started Zhou Yu, but Sun Ce glared directly into his eyes with the fierceness of the tiger that they had just witnessed fall. He was blinded by rage,

"I said assemble the men." He said with the same lack of intensity as before, but he might as well have screamed it at the top of his lungs, it would have been more merciful to the ears.

* * *

They charged at Yuan Shu but were being beaten back by the large number of troops and the archers picking them off from the hills. They had to pull back. Once they had retreated to the castle that was doubling as their main camp, their other front line had been pushed back as well by Wu forces. Their morale had taken a huge nosedive.

When they were just about to give up hope, they had received a message that Liu Bei had come in from the South to help and couldn't have timed it more perfectly. Sun Jian's forces' morale then rose as quickly as it had fallen and they stormed out of the castle and overwhelmed Wu forces guarding the main castle. Sun Ce had met up with Liu Bei and they coordinated a plan: Liu Bei was to attack Yuan Shu while Sun Ce took the main castle.

Huang Gai assisted his lord's son the best he could but Sun Ce was more than a match for any one that got in his way, except for one. Upon reaching the courtyard of Wu's main castle, a lone soldier came to fight him and engaged Sun Ce in a dual. Huang Gai watched, the whole time being overcome by a sense of déjà vu in seeing his lord's son fight the same way that his father did before he died moments before. The death of his father had seamed not to affect him at all. Both warriors were exceptional and evenly matched, it wasn't until the other warrior, now known as Taishi Ci, had become tired out trying to keep up with Ce's fast and aggressive fighting style and succumbed to fatigue. He kneeled before Ce in surrender and waited for death. Ce, being the young merciful lord, had offered the warrior a chance to join him and he agreed. Not long afterwards, Sun Jian's forces stormed the main castle and were victorious. Liu Bei had destroyed Yuan Shu and was victorious on that side of the battle as well, it was over.

* * *

Sun Ce had thanked Liu Bei graciously and Liu Bei had returned it. "I don't know if we could've survived without you Liu Bei." He said,

"It was an honor, Sun Ce." He replied, "We will meet on the battlefield again my friend." And he turned around and set off to wherever he came from.

"With people like him around," began Sun Ce, "Maybe there's a chance for righteousness in this world after all."

"Ce," said Zhou Yu, "he said that you two will meet again 'on the battlefield'. You two are destined to fight against each other some day."

"When that day comes I'll be ready." Said Ce.

* * *

Huang Gai stood overlooking the corpse of his former lord. He thought back to all of the battles that he had fought with him and he was grateful to have fought alongside him. He snapped back to attention when he heard the hooves of horses drawing nearer. He turned around to se Sun Ce and Zhou Yu ride up to him.

"Father!" gasped Ce again. He ran up and kneeled beside his late father. All of the men around them joined together in several moments of silence and Sun Ce broke into tears as he embraced his father.


	12. Forewarnings

Forewarnings

"BANG!" Sun Ce stormed into his countryside house and started knocking over tables and furniture in a fit of rage. Da Qiao could only stand with their young daughter in fear over Ce's tantrum. Ce then proceeded into their cellar and grabbed all the wine he could carry. When he stayed down there for an hour, Da started to get worried and cautiously descended the stairs, "Ce," she called, "Are you alright?" A bottle slamming against the wall beside her answered her. She jumped and ran back up the stairs and Ce chased after her.

"How-how DARE you interrupt me you… you filthy… WH-WHORE!" Ce yelled at her mumbling lazily from the alcohol. He backed her and her daughter into a corner and their daughter started to cry,

"Ce… what has gotten into you? I've never seen you like this!" she shouted as loud as she could but it didn't faze Ce. He lifted a wine jug above his head and Da braced her daughter in her arms in fear of the blow but Ce broke it on the ground instead. He stormed off with a loud grunt of frustration back down the cellar.

"Mommy," said Da's daughter teary-eyed, "What's wrong with daddy?"

"Well, his daddy died today and he is very sad but he is too afraid to show it." Da replied.

"When will he get better?" She asked again.

"I don't know honey," Da said, "But I think I know of some people that can help." And she kissed her daughter on the forehead.

"Good," said the little lady Sun, "Because I don't like daddy like this."

* * *

"Sir," Huang Gai heard another pesky private trying to wake him up yet again, "There is someone here to see you."

"Tell them to scram!" Gai grumbled and threw a blanket over him in frustration.

"Sir it's urgent!" said the private as he tried to throw the blanket off of his head.

"I don't care!" started Gai, "You tell whoever it is-"

"I don't mean to disturb you general Huang." It was Zhou Yu. Gai then perked up and jumped out of bed and bowed,

"Please forgive me my lord." He said, embarrassed. Zhou Yu waved his hand,

"There is no need Master Huang." His tone of voice assured Gai that whatever he wanted certainly was urgent. "Our Lord Sun Ce needs your help," he began, "he is on a path to self-destruction as we speak. Nobody can talk any sense into him, we believe that you are the only one he will listen too." Gai rubbed his balding head and sighed,

"Alright I'll go and see him," he agreed, "just give me a second to freshen up will ya?"

"With haste please Master Huang." Said Zhou Yu as he bowed and dismissed himself from Gai's room.

Gai splashed water in his face to wake himself up and looked at himself in the mirror. His mind then caught hold of the situation he was in: his lord had just passed and his son had just watched him die. Gai grabbed a towel and dried himself off and headed over to Ce's quarters.

* * *

"It's my fault!" screamed an enraged Sun Ce, "I could have helped him!" he sunk onto his knees and buried his face in his hands. He then vomited in an empty wine mug; he had consumed a very unhealthy amount of alcohol in his ordeal.

"Please Ce," begged Sun Quan, "We need you here in the world. Wu needs you here!" All of the Sun family and their close friends gathered around trying to talk as much sense they could into the depressed Little Conqueror, but nothing seemed to work.

Then, the door swung madly open and through it walked in Huang Gai. He had a look on his face like he was going to war and about to conquer a land: it was a serious look, one that did not fit the other faces in the room at all.

Gai walked over to Ce and glared at him like he was an unruly grunt in his army, "Get up son," He ordered sternly, "Pull yourself together." Sun Ce just looked at him angrily,

"Why should I?" he asked through his teeth. Gai brought his face down to Ce's level,

"You wanna know why you should?" Ce locked eyes with him, "I'll show you why." Gai then grabbed him by his collar and threw him across the room sending him crashing into the assorted wine mugs strewn about the room making everyone in the room flinch. Gai grabbed him yet again and started walking out the door when Da Qiao stood in his way,

"Don't hurt him!" she yelled, Gai just gave her a wink and nudged her aside lightly. He stormed out of the door and threw Ce onto a nearby horse,

"Get on there!" he ordered, "I can't believe I got up this early for this bullshit." He mounted the horse as well with Ce slouched over the front of it and he took off for the mountains.

* * *

Ce tried to get an awareness of where he was; the alcohol had really left him inebriated beyond anything he had been through before. He remembered Gai coming in and basically beating him to bits and now he was on a horse and the cold air was pelting his face. He finally was able to see and he looked up and saw Huang Gai's stern face locked on the road ahead.

They eventually slowed to a stop and Gai motioned for Ce to dismount the horse and he sat Ce by the edge of the cliff,

"Sit," Gai ordered with the same monotone, stern voice he had used before.

"What are we-"

"Shh," Gai interrupted, "Wait." The two sat there staring into utter blackness for thirty silent minutes when Gai cleared his throat. Ce looked back and Gai pointed to the blackness. Ce stood up, but not without trying to find his balance, and squinted his eyes to try to get a better look at the sky.

Then, Ce witnessed one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen: an orange sun started peeking its way over the horizon and slowly illuminated the land and sky with every inch it made its way over the horizon.

"It's… it's so… _beautiful_." Said a bewildered Ce, "Why did you bring me here?"

Gai grinned and stood next to Ce admiring the sunrise as well, "Your father had discovered this spot a long time ago," Gai said, "When he found it, he would bring everyone up here to look at it at least once, including your mother and I.

"When you were born, he brought you up here every time he could, of course most of the time you were asleep." He and Ce both started laughing,

"Why don't I remember?" asked Ce, "And why didn't he do it more often?"

"Well," started Gai, "That's when he started in politics and military business and he lost the time for it. He would still ride up here every now and then, as did I, but eventually he began to forget about it. But this spot has always been in your father's heart, as were you Ce.

"He loved you with all of his heart, he loved all of his family with all of his heart. He raised you well, didn't he?" Ce bowed his head, "So why would you waste his efforts with this?" Gai pointed at Ce's hand and Ce had noticed that he was grasping a wine mug the entire time. "You are better than that Ce, everyone knows that you are better. You can lead this land to greatness and carry on the legacy of the Sun family." He placed his hand on Ce's shoulder,

"So honor your father by doing him proud," he said, "Show him what a great example you are to your siblings, lead this land to lengths undreamed of by anyone." Ce looked down at the partially filled wine mug in his hand and clenched it in anger. He then looked out towards the horizon, took a step back and hurled the mug as hard as he could out towards the sun and it glinted all the way down from the sunlight. Gai smiled and said,

"Now we're going to have some explaining to do to the farmer below this mountain as to why a wine glass descending from the heavens and impaled one of his cattle." The two started laughing over this as they started their journey back down the mountain.

* * *

Cao Cao had given strict orders when he left Guan Du castle: "Hold the Front Lines." This was much easier said than done seeing as how Yuan Shao's forces outnumbered Cao Cao's roughly five to one. Xiahou Dun did his best to follow his cousin's orders but could only focus on one channel. The front lines were cut in two by an enormous plateau and made the two armies split their forces in half to compensate. This made it extremely tough to stay in contact with each other and help one another out if they needed it. The only help came in the form of a newly recruited Zhang Liao who proved to be an expert cavalry general but him and his troops were growing tired of the repeated running back and forth between the two strongholds on the front.

Xiahou Dun and his men fended off hordes of enemy troops as they came in wave after wave. His base had been set on fire several times while he was positioned there and every time his forces still held strong, but the enemy kept coming. He was sure that the Eastern front had fallen because there was no way that this was only _half_ of Yuan Shao's army, but Dun's strategist had stated that if the other front had fallen then they would be surrounded by now.

Xiahou Dun then received news that Yan Liang and Wen Chou were commanding Yuan Shao's front lines and that Guan Yu rode out to face them head on. _What an idiot!_ thought Dun, _he can't take on two of Yuan Shao's best officers by himself. I hope he gets killed for his stupidity._

As the battle pressed on, the endless wave of troops started to dissipate and soon enough, they had been routed altogether. "What's going on?" Dun asked a base watchman,

"It seems Master Guan Yu has slain both Yan Liang _and_ Wen Chou sir!" he replied,

"Impossible," said Dun astonished, "Are you sure?"

"Sir, he has ridden back with both of their heads." Dun tried to comprehend this but instead decided to journey out from the base to see what really had happened. It was true; the front lines were finally secured after Guan Yu killed the two generals. Dun then realized how cut off he was from the rest of the battle during his defense of the front; there was so much that went on around the very front lines. A force had snuck around to the West and established a foothold to attack Guan Du castle. Their commanding officer for the time being was Cao Cao's brat son Cao Pi while Cao Cao was away waiting for the perfect time to attack from afar. Cao Pi had ordered all troops away from the front to retreat back to Guan Du castle to stop the siege that was put upon it. Dun thought that he was able to help so he rushed his forces back to the castle. He helped destroy the siege weapons attacking it and set up defenses around the castle and waited for yet another onslaught of enemy soldiers.

His forces made him proud yet again as they fended off the enemy despite their fatigue. One officer that Dun struggled with was a man named Zhang He who attacked ferociously and swiftly. His forces had clashed head on with Dun's and the two fought it out only being able to see each other by the dim light of the moon. Dun then forced the enemy officer into submission after many of the other allied generals had outnumbered and surrounded his troops. The two opposing generals stood in the middle of a circle formed by Cao Cao's troops and Dun was being cheered on by them and was encouraged to slay the officer. He held his blade above his head and the troops erupted into cheers and war cries but were silenced when Cao Pi who had been discreetly watching from the sidelines stepped in and stopped Dun.

"Come now Dun," he said, "Lord Cao Cao wouldn't approve of wasting such a talented officer."

"How would you know what Cao Cao would approve of?" Dun shot back,

"Well," began Pi, "The fact that I am his son might be a good reason, huh?" And Pi extended his hand to the young officer who grabbed it and was lifted to his feet. The man made a very graceful bow to the young lord,

"Thank you my lord," he said with a peculiar tone of voice, "You recognize beauty in its truest form and for that I will gladly serve you. "

"Yes Zhang He," said Pi, "Follow me into my quarters. We have much to discuss." Dun watched the two leave with a snarl on his face. Zhang Liao decided to break the silence,

"Sir," he said, "We should continue our assault."

"Yes," replied Dun, "Ready the men! Prepare to march!"

* * *

_THUMP!_ Zhao Yun hit the ground hard,

"Ha ha!" laughed Zhang Fei, "I'll admit Little Dragon, you sure have gotten better! You almost took my arm off with that last one!" The two had been sparring and practicing more than ever, all of Liu Bei's forces had. They all knew that war was imminent and trained with all their might during their stay in Jing province.

Zhao Yun was exhausted from his fight,

"Say Fei," he said, "Let's give it a break for a while, huh?"

"Yeah alright," the general replied, "I think I might of pulled something a while back anyway."

Upon dinnertime, Yun began scarfing his food down faster than he ever did since he joined Liu Bei. His stomach always seemed to protest against food every time he thought of Diao Chan, but now was different. He didn't think of Chan that entire day which was very helpful as it stopped him from starving to death.

Once he had finished, he started on another serving but got halfway through it and the corner of his eye caught the crane medallion around his neck and it started all over again. Every bit he took caused his heart rate to increase and brought him to the verge of vomiting.

"Zhao Yun," said Liu Bei, "Is something wrong?"

"No my lord," he said, "My stomach just seems to disagree with something I ate."

"Oh, then please," said Liu Bei, "You may excuse yourself if you must."

"Thank you my lord." Yun said as he bowed and headed off towards the outhouse.

He cursed himself for letting the ordeal take control over him and for even having the medallion in the first place. He already went through a small state of depression and self-loathing after he realized he had forgotten to return it at Xia Pi.

"Are you alright, Master Zhao Yun?" Yun jumped upon hearing the words and snapped around to see Liu Bei's new strategist, Zhuge Liang.

"Oh, just a bit of a stomach ache Master Zhuge," he said, "Nothing to worry about." Yun liked Zhuge Liang; he felt that he was a man that could be trusted. Although, the strategist could easily tell when a man was lying and one knew this by the unique look on his face when he became skeptical of one's words, he was giving Yun that very look now.

"Something tells me this isn't the first time you've had these… 'stomach aches,'" he said, "Am I right, Master Zhao?" Yun scratched his neck and Liang knew that this was a sign of apprehension. He decided that there was nothing he could hide from the man so he took a deep breath and said,

"Sir, with all due respect, I would really like to refrain from talking about it now." Liang bowed his head,

"Of course Zhao Yun," he said, "You may discuss this whenever you wish. I will leave you in peace." They bowed to each other and Liang turned to exit but stopped and looked over his shoulder,

"But you must consider," he said, "That these problems may be solved as easily as discussing them with someone, but I respect your privacy and I realize that this is not the time." Yun bowed,

"Thank you, Lord Zhuge." He said and watched the strategist walk back to the mess hall.

"Over come by guilt from a failure to complete a task are we?" Yun jumped again from the unexpected voice of Zuo Ci from behind him and he cursed,

"Can't I ever get a moment alone around here without you popping up wherever I go?" he whispered with a harsh tone but Zuo Ci seemed to not be bothered by it at all,

"Your jewelry speaks to me," he said pointing at the medallion, "It says that you have not completed the task you were assigned with it." Yun glared at him catching the drastic sarcasm in his statement,

"The obvious is very clear to you Master Black Horn," he said with an abundance of sarcasm in his voice as well, "What does my jewelry suggest I do?" Zuo Ci laughed and walked past him and spoke without turning around,

"It says that you must try to complete the task again."

"And how does it suggest I do that?" Yun asked, "I will most likely never see her again, especially when she is under Cao Cao's 'care.'" Zuo Ci chuckled some more,

"With determination and a striving goal to complete something," he began and turned around to face Yun, "Any task is possible." Yun clutched the medallion into his chest and his heart jumped at being able to see her again. He never mentioned it to anyone and he denied thoughts about it, but he often wondered if she thought about him at all while she was under the service of Cao Cao. He decided to change the subject,

"Why have you come here?" he asked. Zuo Ci began admiring some of the artwork hanging on the walls of the hallway they were in.

"Your loyalty and endurance will be tested soon," he said, "You will be faced with a difficult task that will prove your loyalty to Liu Bei in an upcoming battle."

"That's why you came," Yun asked, "To warn me of this?"

"You might say that," Ci said, "But who is to say that I can't just visit a friend every once in a while, hmm?" A jovial smile crept over Ci's face and Yun desperately tried to keep a stern face but succumbed to the urge to laugh along with the old prophet and the two men's laughs echoed down the hall for minutes on end.


	13. The Woman of the Moon

The Woman of the Moon

Huang Gai and his men were on the front of Sun Ce's caravan leading North to Xu Chang. The entire time Gai was thinking that what Ce was doing was suicide and that he was being too confident in his view of victory and underestimated Cao Cao. What they had planned to do was attack Cao Cao's capital of Xu Chang while he was away in his campaign against Yuan Shao. To Gai's surprise, Zhou Yu had actually agreed to this plan as well while Gai had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He had been reminiscing over what had happened to him the previous day:

_Huang Gai had departed down the mountainside along with Sun Ce. Gai couldn't help but allow himself to be overcome with a feeling of accomplishment: he helped Ce out of his fit of sorrow. They turned down the winding path towards the Wu village they were all staying at. He noticed a bird flying in circles in the sky above the village. _

Looks like one of the cattle has finally kicked it,_ he thought. He felt bad for the farmer it must belong to for a moment and then continued down the path with his previous feeling of joy._

_When the two arrived at the village, Ce apologized to everyone and expressed his gratitude to everyone for being so understanding. Gai then noticed a man that was unfamiliar to him. The man kept stealing glances at Gai. He looked very strange but everyone around him seemed not to pay any attention to him, it was as if he was part of the Wu "family" they had all started. Because of this, Gai ignored him as well._

_Gai then proceeded to the house he was staying at for the time. The ordeal from the previous night deprived him of the ever-so precious sleep he needed. _This never happened to me when I was younger,_ he thought. He unlocked the door and was about to step in when he heard a voice,_

"_That was some speech the man made there," it said. Gai spun around to see the strange man from before._

"_What do you want?" Gai asked annoyed. He didn't care who this man was he just wanted sleep. _

"_Oh there are several things I would like," the man said, "One of those things would be a nice cup of tea. Would you be so kind as to invite me in?" Gai was even more annoyed than before, but he was too tired to argue. Besides, he didn't mind going for a cup of tea right about then either._

_The two sat in the living room of Gai's temporary living quarters. The strange old man Gai admitted in was quickly sipping down his tea. Gai just stared at him. He wanted more than anything to just lie down in his bed. "Alright old man," he finally said. "Tell me what it is you really want and when you plan on leaving." The old man burst into a fit of laughter and tea came gushing out of his nose. Gai was less amused._

_The man recovered from his hysteria and finally decided to speak, "Your straight-forward attitude is far more amusing than I had previously thought my good friend!"_

"_Well, pardon me for my arrogance but that bed in the other room has been calling my name for hours and I would very much like to oblige it." Gai's stern face made the old man a little less giddy. The man finished his tea and leaned in closer to Gai._

"_I have watched you for quite some time, my friend." The man did not lose the warm look on his face. "You have been through much, good and bad times weave in and around your timeless eyes. Even one such as I who has not known you until just a few moments ago can read you fairly easily because of this. Your face may try to cover up the emotions that you would prefer others not to see but your eyes blind me with the abundance of emotion that they show." Gai continued to stare at him. _This man has to be joking._ He thought. _

"_And no, I am not at all kidding you my good friend." Said the man. This actually made Gai blink. He then just figured that the man made a good guess as to what Gai was thinking and continued to stare. "You must be wondering who I am." Gai just stared yet again; he didn't care who the man was. "My name is Zuo Ci, I am a seeker of certain talents and you, my friend, have these talents I seek." _

Of course, _thought Gai. _A military contractor._ "Sir, you flatter me. But my services are reserved for my lord only. Now if you'll excuse me, I would very much like to be alone for the rest of the morning." The man Gai now knew as Zuo Ci gave a short chuckle._

"_My good sir, I have no intention of hiring you as a mercenary." Gai then blinked again, he had no idea what else the man could want. "You see, there are things in this world that if done a certain way, can make a vast difference on the world in the future. I know from watching you now that you do not care very much for details that have very little meaning in a story. You're the kind of guy that wants to cut right to the chase, avoid the…" He leaned in closer, "Horseshit, if you will." Ci smiled at this last statement and leaned back. Gai was paying attention for the first time since the man walked into his house. Gai had to admit; the man hit the nail on the head._

"_I realize now that you care very little about who I am or what it is I really want you to do so I will not get into too much details about my background or my philosophic mumbo jumbo as I have already taken up too much of your time," Gai nodded his head; the man was right yet again. "But know this, there are things in your future that you must absolutely pay attention to." The man lost the warmth in his face, "The very future of this kingdom, the very future of anything good anywhere depends on you. I tell you this, do not doubt yourself when it comes to something you believe in. Whether it be an idea or a choice or anything. This nation will become a very dark and grim place if you do. Traditions and values of everything righteous could dissipate into oblivion."_

_The man got up and started to head toward the door and stopped, "I will leave you now but this will not be the last time you see me. I will assist you in what fate asks of you when the time comes." He opened the door, "And remember this: I will always be watching you." Ci's face was almost as stern as Gai's. Ci turned and shut the door but Gai didn't see him leave, he only saw the same bird as before fly by the window and into the sky and faded from view. _

_Gai took a deep breath and finished his tea. The last half hour seemed like a dream and he was a little disconnected from the lack of sleep, but he was glad that the strange old man was finally gone. Gai couldn't see how anything the man said had anything to do with him but he figured that it wasn't the time to think about it, now he could finally sleep. He slipped into his bed and he let his dreams take him when his head hit the pillow._

"Sir!" a scout had shouted, "Xu Chang castle is just over this hill!"

"Good," said Gai, "Relay this information to our Lord!" and the scout ran off. Bad feeling or not, Gai was going to have to fight.

* * *

The flames casted an orange light that danced over Xiahou Dun's face and the cries of triumph from his men echoed in his ears. On their last push, Cao Cao's forces located and burned Yuan Shao's main storage camp full of supplies at Wu Chao. Dun shook his head at the stupidity of such a man to leave his main supply storage unarmed for a time while he gathered his men.

"Cao Cao's main force has arrived sir!" a messenger reported to Dun.

"Ah," he said as he took a deep breath, "He is finally here. Begin the final assault!" There was only one thing left to do to complete their plan: they were to take Yuan Shao's main camp by surprise by taking a route to the West that was unknown to the enemy that lead straight to Yuan Shao's camp.

Cao Cao's main force began assaulting the camp and headed on along with many of the other generals while Dun and a few other generals proceeded west to take the alternate route. Along the way, Dun noticed a bed of bluish- colored flowers that were accented by the light of the moon. Dun then remembered the mysterious old man's request for him to bring back a flower of the same description.

"Dun!" whispered his brother Yuan, "Where are you going?"

"Don't worry about me brother," he said, "I will rejoin you soon. Go on without me." Yuan scratched his head in confusion but followed orders and continued along the dark path.

Dun approached the bed of flowers and picked one and sniffed it. It was an interesting smell, sniffing flowers was something Dun had seldom done throughout his life. He then realized how peaceful the part of the woods he was standing in was. He could easily forget about the battle that ensued around him and stay there forever. Peace was something he hardly ever experienced much throughout his life. He was raised to be a warrior ever since he could remember and one of the first things he learned was to never expect peace even though it was the whole reason for fighting in the first place. When it did come, it never stayed for long.

He stared at the moon for a while, dwelling on thoughts outside of battle when he was thrown back into reality by a cold, sharp object resting on his neck He let out a laugh to show that he was impressed by the warrior's guile,

"I congratulate you, wise soldier." He said, "You have taken me off guard." He was responded to by a woman's voice,

"Turn your army back now and I will not kill you." She said, Dun tried to show that he was not surprised by her voice and stayed where he was,

"I'm afraid I can't do that my lady," he replied, "For they are much too far ahead."

"Well then I guess you will have to go catch up with them, won't you?" The woman said with a dash of sarcasm in her voice. Dun finally decided to turn around and look his captor in the eye,

"Well then-" he stopped, what he saw sent chills down his spine: she was beautiful. The moon illuminated her face perfectly and her eyes made him almost lose his balance and pierced into his body and twisted his insides, she could easily be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"Well?" She said with an annoyed look on her face and Dun realized he had stopped mid sentence and she was waiting for him to finish. He then noticed the most peculiar thing about her was that she had held him hostage with a… _flute._ He lost all hostile feelings toward her and began to play with her feelings.

"How might you intend to do harm to me if I disobey my lady?" he asked, "Surely not with a weapon like _that_!" He said pointing to the flute. The woman looked as if she had been slapped. Dun grunted as she drove the tip of the weapon deeper into the skin of his neck.

"If you haven't noticed already," Said the woman. "Looks can be very deceiving." The woman then performed a spinning back kick and drove her heel into Dun's chest causing him to stumble and fall over. "Now get up, 'brave general,' and see how you fair against a lady!" Dun got up and laughed.

"Your martial skill is commendable my lady," he said. "But I am Lord Cao Cao's greatest warrior. No man, let alone a woman, is at all a match for me."

"Then all the more reason you should cross blades with me." She said with a smirk. She then leapt into the air and smacked into Dun's blade. Dun did not expect the force of the impact and stumbled farther backwards. The woman took advantage of his miscalculation and drove the attack. Dun fell yet again, "It looks like Cao Cao's greatest warrior isn't the most graceful man in the world, is he?" She said with a bigger smirk than before, "I have no idea how my lord's troops are being beaten back if all of the Cao Cao's warriors are this clumsy."

Dun leapt to his feet and caught the woman in a deadlock, "If my good lady would like to fight," He broke the deadlock and spun around into a fighting position. "Then it is my duty as a gentleman to oblige her." He jumped at her and they clashed.

To Dun's surprise, she was an excellent fighter and was even better than many men he had seen. Despite this, Dun could still over power her. She was thrown to the ground and Dun approached her. He could see the terror in her face even through his lone eye and the darkness of the night. Dun was then distracted by the sound of thunder growing louder and louder: a horse.

"I'm coming my love!" Shouted a man's voice. A horse then leapt into the air and a spear collided with Dun's armor. The blow only knocked Dun aside and the warrior came around for a second strike. Dun stood ready for the incoming blow but was knocked to the ground by the woman who rolled beside him and tripped him. The man's spear came within inches of Dun's head. Dun leapt up even quicker than before and jumped up and caught the man with a spinning heel kick to his left shoulder and upper torso. This threw the man off of his horse.

Dun leapt back to assess his situation: he was fighting two officers alone. His goal was to keep both of them in his sight. The worst thing that could happen was for him to become surrounded. The two officers leapt into the air and aimed a blow at Dun. Dun rolled beneath one and parried the other. He unleashed a short combo at the man and leapt to his side to keep the woman at bay. He had to be more conservative than he was used to, he was regretting not acquiring backup before he went on his little venture.

Dun traded blows with the two officers and did a fairly good job at keeping them both where he wanted them to be. He also noticed something that skyrocketed his overall morale: they were getting tired. They were obviously not experienced at enduring a fight for this long, especially against someone of Dun's caliber. He took advantage of this and unleashed a devastating combination of attacks at both of them and managed to knock the woman to the ground. He then focused on the man and quickly overtook him.

Dun decreased the range between him and the man and got close enough to where the man couldn't counter attack with the bladed end of his spear. The man tried to strike Dun with the butt of his spear, but Dun blocked it and grabbed hold of the spear. He performed a basic flipping grapple maneuver and the spear went flipping out of the man's hands. Dun finished the attack with a stab to the man's torso and his blade found its mark. He heard a scream from the woman only a few yards back and looked up and gazed into the man's face. His look was a combination of awe and horror. Dun withdrew his sword from the man's body with a violent yank that caused the man to grunt. He fell to the ground at Dun's feet and did not move.

Dun turned his focus to the woman who shared a similar look her husband had only seconds before. He walked toward her and she tried her best to stand and defend herself, but panic had left her muscles useless; she could only crawl on the ground. She held her flute up in vain and Dun held his blade up for a final blow. The woman's face then changed to one of acceptance and she took one last glance at her husband's lifeless body and to the blade that had taken his life that glinted black with his blood in the moonlight. She then closed her eyes and welcomed death to take her away as well.

A man's voice broke both of the warriors' attention. "General Xiahou!" Yelled the voice, Dun recognized the voice: it belonged to Cao Pi. "You don't really mean to send this beauty to the afterlife so early, do you?" He asked with a smirk. Dun just glared at him, annoyed that the man had stopped him from killing yet again. Cao Pi extended a hand to the lady, "Come my lady, you have fought valiantly and you deserve to be rewarded." He helped her to her feet. "Come, follow me to my quarters. You will be treated quite nicely I assure you." Cao Pi looked back at Dun, gave him a wink, and continued through the brush back to the main camp. Dun stormed his way to the enemy camp to rejoin with the others. He had forgotten about the flower he had pinned to his chest.


	14. The Opponent

Black Horned Crane 14

_SHHHHLUCK_! Yun felt the wind from the halberd as it plunged into the snow, barely missing his face as he rolled to one side. He prepared himself for a second blow that came all too quickly. He had barely gotten his spear up in time. Yun pushed his attacker away and was able to rise to his feet. Both warriors glared at each other in a fighting stance. The crowd of soldiers, friend and foe, shouting at the top of their lungs, might as well had been in another dimension. The warriors were unfazed by them.

Yun decided to attack first, he lunged into the air and came down spinning his blade several miles a second. He felt his blow knock his opponent's guard away, leaving him vulnerable. Yun didn't hesitate; he drove the attack much harder than before. Yun was sure he had him this time. His opponent seemed to be getting slower on his blocks and parries and tried to catch Yun in a deadlock, but Yun broke free instantly.

Yun rushed the attack with all of his might. He was getting faster and faster and saw where his spear was going to land. He could feel it happening before it happened. He was sure it was going to happen just as sure as the sun rising and setting. Then it hit him; he felt like he was then submerged under water. It took all of his might to swing his blade while his opponent moved just as fast as before, maybe even faster. Yun saw the smirk on his opponent's lips and Yun tried to push the attack, but his opponent was toying with him. The smirk never left his face. Yun then went all out, he used every ounce of his strength to swing his blade, he would not lose this time!

Yun awoke to the sound of his mess kit crashing to the floor. He opened his eyes and saw that he was clenching a fist so hard that his knuckles had become bone white and his nails cut into his skin drawing blood. His mess kit was strewn all about his tent: pots, pans, forks, knives, and all. It was a struggle for him to relax his hand, his muscles protested from him waking up. It didn't take him long to realize that he had punched his mess kit in his sleep.

He went about trying to clean the mess up, all the while reminiscing about the dream he just had. It was not the first one like it; it was different like all of them, but still had the same outcome. No matter how well of a fighter Yun had become, his opponent was always better and always turned out to be toying with him.

Lu Bu: Yun had no idea why he kept redoing the fight he had with the monster in his dreams. He thought it was because he had lost, but Yun had lost at several things and didn't see himself as a sore loser. He didn't even like competing!

From the past several months in Liu Bei's service, Yun had become much, much better as a fighter. He never thought he would be this skilled in the martial arts, but being skilled is what the men in Liu Bei's force strived for. One had to be skilled, it was either that or death. Liu Bei's forces had stayed with Cao Cao's forces for quite some time after the battle of Xia Pi and Cao Cao's forces were enormous. If an army like Liu Bei's was to survive, the men had to be extremely adept warriors.

Apparently, Cao Cao took a liking to Liu Bei. He even called Bei his "little brother." But this feeling of kinship was fading fast. All of the officers noticed this every time Liu Bei came back from one of he and Cao Cao's "meetings." Liu Bei's face became grimmer and grimmer with each meeting. It was obvious that the two's relationship was deteriorating.

It seemed as if Cao Cao finally realized that they were two very different people. Their purpose was to be enemies, not friends. The two had obviously come to this conclusion because one day Liu Bei forced his men to leave. Not long afterwards, he agreed to assist Yuan Shao against Cao Cao. Liu Bei didn't take any of his officers, he just took some of his men and left. He returned not long afterwards saying that he saw Guan Yu on Cao Cao's side and couldn't fight any longer.

Yun finished cleaning up the mess he made and lay back down to try to sleep. Not to his surprise, he couldn't. He rolled over to his side and caressed the crane he was given by Wang Yun. He hated himself for forgetting to give it to Diao Chan. He kept requesting to see her when they were at Xia Pi, but was denied every time. He wasn't worried about it though; he knew that fate would bring them together again. He just prepared himself for when the time came. Yun had changed, he just hoped that it wouldn't be for the worst.

* * *

"Hey there, beautiful." Diao Chan tried to walk faster as she walked by Dian Wei: one of Cao Cao's most trusted generals. "It must be so lonely in that room of yours, why don't you come into mine for a while?" The man said with a smirk. Chan just pretended not to have heard and sped up her pace, but the man grabbed her wrist. "Aw, what's the matter? Having hearing problems?" The man said condescendingly. Chan tried to break free but the man had a steel grip. "Hahaha!" He started pulling her in the other direction when a shout stopped him.

"Dian Wei!" It was Cao Cao. "Get your hands off of her! That's an order!" Dian Wei let go.

"Yes my lord." He said bowing.

"Go back to your quarters before I decide to teach you a lesson." Dian Wei reluctantly trudged back to his quarters. "My apologies, Diao Chan." Chan stared for a little while, not knowing that Cao Cao was talking to her. She then snapped back to attention.

"Oh, thank you my lord." She said a little skittishly.

"I think it would be better if you were to stay in your quarters for the rest of the night as well."

"Y...yes. I agree my lord." Diao Chan bowed and Cao Cao departed and Chan left for her room.

She had survived many close encounters under Cao Cao's service. There were many officers that wanted to have her, most of them using force to overpower her, but she always got out of it.

Chan hated the man, but she was grateful that he had a sense of honor. That was really the only difference between Cao Cao and Dong Zhuo, that and the fact that Cao Cao had a brain. Both men wanted to take the throne for themselves, but Cao Cao had patience and planed to use tactics to do it, while Dong Zhuo just charged straight into the capital and held it hostage.

Chan cursed her luck. She always caught the attention of the worst men in all of China. Even though she was grateful to Cao Cao for protecting her honor, she still didn't know why he kept her under his rule. This made her cautious of everything the man did.

Chan had been playing her fiddle, another rare commodity she was allowed to have that she was also grateful for, when she heard the men bring another woman into the room next to hers. Just a translucent blue curtain separated the two rooms so she could see the men's silhouettes and hear everything. They sternly threw the woman onto a bed and gave her orders to stay there. Once the men left, Chan saw the girl curl into a ball on her bed. It wasn't long before she heard the faint, soft, quick inhales coming from the room.

Chan decided to try to comfort the young woman. She tiptoed to the curtain and pulled it back slightly. The woman was facing away from her and Chan tapped on the wall to get the woman's attention but the woman didn't budge. The woman wiped her face and tried not to let out any more sobs, but Chan knew she was still crying. Chan walked over and sat on the bed,

"I like your dress," Chan said a little sarcastically and with a smile trying to lighten the mood. The woman remained facing away from her. Chan patted the woman's arm.

"Listen," she started, "I've been here for a while now and trust me, it isn't as bad as it seems." This made the woman turn her head slightly. Chan could barely make out half of her face from the candlelight. She could already tell that she was beautiful. Chan figured that the woman had to be one of Cao Cao's concubines-to-be.

"I've been in your position before." The woman turned all the way over to look at Chan now.

"You have?" she said a little surprised.

"Yes," replied Chan, "And it really isn't too bad. Cao Cao has yet to… you know." The woman rolled back over. She looked even more stressed than before.

"I'm not one of his concubines." She said. It was Chan's turn to be surprised. "I am to wed his son." Chan could only stare. She was terrified. She saw Cao Cao's son every now and then when she could walk out in the grounds and she tried to avoid him every time she saw him. The man was sinister, she had barely heard the man speak and knew that he was evil, possibly more so than his father. The man seemed like he was always scheming, just planning out ways to be more and more evil. Chan knew that if it weren't for Cao Cao's protection, the man would have Chan as well.

"Uh!" Chan gasped and gripped a blanket tight.

"What is it?" The woman asked, concerned. Chan just had a revelation, what if Cao Cao had planned to marry her and was just waiting for the time to do it? Or maybe even worse: one of his officers? She didn't know if she could go on living if she were to be stuck with someone like Dian Wei for the rest of her life.

Chan then realized that the woman was staring at her dumbfounded. "My lady, are you sure you're alright?"

"Y-yes." Said Chan, "I was just daydreaming. I apologize." The woman relaxed slightly.

"It's alright."

"My name is Diao Chan." Chan extended her hand. The woman looked at it suspiciously, and then took it.

"I'm Zhen Ji."

"Nice to meet you." Said Chan as she did her best to curtsy. The woman nodded out of respect, but was still saddened. Chan realized that she couldn't do anything more to help Zhen Ji's situation. "Well, I suppose I should get to bed. It was nice meeting you Zhen Ji. And if you need anything, please ask." Chan smiled weakly. The girl just slumped back into her ball on the bed. _That went well._ Chan told herself sarcastically.

Chan blew out her candles and tried to sleep, but the thought of Cao Cao forcing her to marry was too awful to bear. She thought of the girl in the other room and what she must be thinking. Chan always thought she was good at comforting people. Chan hated the fact that sadness was sometimes contagious and cried for herself as well. But Chan realized that Ji had stopped crying. Chan smiled through her tears and drifted off to sleep.


	15. Backstab

Backstab

Xiahou Dun stood in ecstasy. The long hours of the night Cao Cao's forces had spent fighting had paid off and Dun was satisfied with his work. He took a look around the enemy camp they had just captured. His men were all shouting triumphantly and raiding what was left of Yuan Shao's wine storages. Heat was bathing his body, warming him from the frigid cold of the night. The heat was coming from Yuan Shao's headquarters.

The once great warlord knew that victory was impossible once Cao Cao's troops invaded the main camp. He set his tent aflame with him still in it. Apparently he viewed surrendering as dishonorable. Cao Cao's troops found a knife inside Shao's charred body. Apparently he couldn't take the pain.

Dun set off to gather his troops and continue to the castle for the debriefing. He just entered the main gate when he saw Cao Cao alone, staring at the early morning sky.

"Is something the matter, cousin?" Dun asked.

"I feel that we have been taken advantage of, cousin Dun."

"How so?" Cao Cao rubbed his chin,

"I don't know how I know this, but something tells me that our capital is in danger." Xiahou Dun cocked his head in disbelief.

"Cousin," he started, "You don't think that anyone could be foolish enough to invade the capital while we were away, do you?" Cao Cao turned around to face Dun.

"That's precisely it, cousin. What would you do if you were my enemy and I had abandoned my capital, leaving it vulnerable?" Dun then rubbed his face in thought.

"I suppose I would consider trying to take it." He said, "But cousin, how can one be so dishonorable as to attack someone while their back is turned?"

"I don't know. But it is a risk that I can't afford to ignore. I want you and your brother to march back to Xu Chang. Take any men you would like." Dun bowed his head and set off to do the task. "And remember cousin," Cao shouted, "Ride with haste!"

…

Much to Gai's surprise, the battle had gone fairly well. There may have been a large amount of troops guarding the castle, but they were only reserve troops, sent there just to protect a fortress that no one had thought would come under attack. The only difficulties lay in breaching the gates that only took a matter of time to break through. Wu forces couldn't have picked a better time to attack.

Huang Gai's force was ordered to go around to the West. Scouts had reported that there was a base that provided a secondary entrance into the castle. All they needed to do was capture the base, which was never difficult. Upon entering, Wu forces were instructed to capture the watch posts along the two ends of the second gate. By the time this happened, the main Wu force had punched through the first gate and were met by a large but feeble resistance. It wasn't long before the battering ram had begun pounding on the second gate.

Gai had been accompanied by Sun Shang Xiang upon capturing the base towards the West. After the two had captured it, they led their forces to the second gate.

The enemy had almost doubled in numbers compared to the resistance the Wu forces had encountered taking the first gate, but with the addition of Gai's and Shang Xiang's forces to the fray, the gate fell just as quickly as the first.

It was then that one of the scouts came rushing in to alert Sun Ce that an entire regiment of Cao Cao's reinforcements was quickly on their way to assist the bewildered forces defending the castle. They were lead by Xiahou's Dun and Yuan. With the counsel of Zhou Yu, Ce gave the order to split the forces; half would defend the rear against the Xiahou's while the other half would charge the castle's throne room.

Gai and Shang Xiang lead the rear guard unit while Ce and Yu lead the frontal charge. The front had greater success as was expected and had already begun fighting in the throne room. The rear guard had worse luck, both Wu forces and Cao Cao's forces hadn't moved an inch and both sides were losing men quickly.

Zhou Yu realized that if they had taken the throne room, then they could easily fight off Cao Cao's reinforcements. He ordered the rear guard to retreat and assist in capturing the throne room. The rear guard did so but was followed closely by the enemy reinforcements. The defending forces in the throne room were overwhelmed and surrendered. Wu forces were victorious but the enemy reinforcements had thought otherwise and were immediately on the Wu forces in a matter of seconds because of their knowledge of the secret passageways in the castle.

It was then that Sun Ce jumped up on the throne and declared victory for Wu. As soon as his fist rose into the air an arrow struck him. The Wu forces stared in shock and disbelief as their leader was carried away by nearby troops. Zhou Yu ordered a retreat from the castle and led the shocked Wu forces out of the castle.


	16. The Spirit of Wu

**The Spirit of Wu**

Xiahou Dun had been angrily treading through the mass of bodies the coroners had yet to clean up. He was empowered by the victory he had helped to achieve but was furious by the fact that Sun Ce had the nerve to attack Xu Chang while Cao Cao was away.

He had heard rumors from the men that they saw Sun Ce being carried away in a gurney with several arrows in his back. Dun didn't know the level of truth in these rumors but they calmed him down somewhat at the thought of his enemy being wounded (hopefully mortally) by his immoral and cowardly act.

"Good work, Xiahou Dun!" Cao Cao commented, he had arrived a couple of hours after the battle ended. "Yet I cannot say the same about the reserve forces I left to defend the castle."

"Don't waste your time on those weaklings," Interjected Dun, "If they have any shred of self dignity left then the disgrace of their actions should be punishment enough."

At this Cao Cao was silent. He knew that Dun never raised his voice at him unless he was extremely angry. Cao turned around and headed back to the throne room to assess more of the damage.

Dun plunged his sword into the earth at his feet and sat down on a partially destroyed stone bench. He buried his face in his hands and immediately withdrew them when he felt the sweat that was drenching his face. Instead he laid back and closed his eyes. It was the closest thing to rest he had gotten for almost a week. All of the adrenaline that fueled his body during that time had run its course and he let himself become overtaken by sleep.

"Nice day, isn't it?" The voice startled Dun out of his sleep. "The air is cool but the sun sends its warmth." Dun rubbed his face in annoyance,

"Can you pick a time to 'fascinate' me with your 'mystical' ways when I've had the least bit of sleep?"

"Oh sure!" Zuo Ci cooed, "But seeing as how you have yet to finish the task I have set for you, I have to interrupt you when it is the best time to irritate you." The old man said with a smile. "So that you may remember and finally finish what it is I asked you to do."

"This is fun for you, isn't it?" The old man tilted his head in slight confirmation, and then smiled guilefully. Dun just sighed, "I picked the damn flower, what else am I supposed to do? I can't exactly go and find you now can I?" Zuo Ci proceeded to laugh,

"An old man has to find some amusement, doesn't he? Meet me in the courtyard," he said. "There will be nobody there and we can discuss matters in private." The man then disappeared into a gust of wind that brought Dun back to reality,

_Another damn dream,_ he thought. He was disgusted at the way the old mystic decided to get his attention but shouldered his blade and obediently walked towards the courtyard.

_Sun Ce… Dead_

Those were the words that had been circulating through Gai's head for the past two days. He died in what was acting as the medical tent at the time of the Wu retreat. It was merely a carriage with first aid supplies and a few battlefield medics inside. If they had been stationary and had the necessary tools and experience, he might have made it.

Everyone was crushed. What they thought was a definite victory had become one of the greatest losses yet. Many were devastated more so than the death of Sun Jian. Wu forces did manage to pull off a crippling blow to Cao Cao's forces despite being outnumbered, but had nothing to show for it. Wu made a gamble and suffered heavy losses for it.

Gai felt like the rest of the army; they were inside the very throne room of Xu Chang, their hands already grasping victory. Only for it to slither away like a scheming serpent when Cao Cao's forces turned the tables on them.

Gai had all but given up hope. His mind kept taking him back to when Jian had died and Gai needed to give encouragement to a downhearted Ce. Gai thought of the night at the mountain top, how only a select few knew how special it was. Now those few that held it dear is dwindling down to almost no one.

A volley of arrows, shot by whom many believe to be Xiahou Yuan's forces, had found their mark and pierced the Little Conqueror's armor in the first battle that he had led. He was still alive when everyone saw him fall, but the wounds eventually put a stop to his young life.

Gai had all but given up hope. His mind kept taking him back to when Jian had died and Gai needed to give encouragement to a downhearted Ce. Gai thought of the night at the mountain top, how only a select few knew how special it was. Now those few that held it dear is dwindling down to almost no one.

There wasn't a single soul who did not suffer in the solemn tent that held the funeral session. Da Qiao's soft tears were slightly audible over the moderate rainfall. Zhou Yu dawned a sickly apathetic look to his face and his skin took on a gray hue. Gai remembered Sun Jian giving the young general the responsibility of guarding Ce's back. He did a good job of it, that is until the other day. Sun Shang Xiang sat far away from where everyone else was. Her eyes were filled with tears and her face bore a combination of sorrow and utter rage. Possibly the calmest face in the tent (and that wasn't saying a lot) belonged to Sun Quan. The younger brother of Ce prepared himself for the speech he was about to say.

"Men and women of Wu, my friends. Today marks an extremely difficult time for us. The deaths of Sun Jian, my father, and Sun Ce, my brother, have been in very quick succession with one another. Some may say that this is a sign; that the Sun family is not fit to rule this land or that Wu is weaker than many thought. I am here to tell you that these are not true. This land has been in the possession of my ancestors for as long as history can tell. What my father built here…" Gai saw that Quan's eyes were starting to glisten more than usual.

"What my father built here was intended to withstand the tests of time, but no one said that time was going to go easy on us. What has happened these past weeks, happened because fate thought that we deserved a challenge. We have all been devastated by the sacrifices of my father and brother, but we cannot give it all up. We cannot yield to a bump in the road or rough tide in the river. We cannot give up this easily. Even though the bump may seem like a mountain, or the rough tide a tidal wave, these are the obstacles of legends. What separates legends and common folk are whether or not they choose to traverse these obstacles.

"This may seem like you have heard this many times before, but it cannot be more appropriate than a time like this. If we choose to give up now, we throw away all that which these two great men have held dear, what they gave their lives to uphold.

"We came here to mourn the death of Sun Ce, but if I knew Sun Ce he would tell us to throw the whole thing off. He doesn't care about this wussy, crying crap. If he saw me crying like this over him, he would punch me in the arm and tell me to man up. That's what he would want all of us to do. Let us not mourn his death. Let us make it worth something. Let him and my father be remembered in the spirit of Wu. We can do this not by throwing in the towel, but by moving foreword and helping Wu and its people go down in history as legends!"

An eerie, awkward silence followed. No one knew what to do, they thought that they would be at a funeral for their leader and instead found themselves in a pep rally. It was then that someone in the back started clapping. Everyone turned around to see Gan Ning standing up in the back. A few seconds later, Sun Shang Xiang joined in, then Ling Tong, then Zhou Yu. The rest of the audience erupted in applause and someone rose the Wu banner to full staff.

Suddenly, the rain seemed to stop and Gai could swear that he saw the faintest ray of sunlight catch the waving banner. _The spirit of Wu moves ahead as always._


	17. The God of War Escapes

**The God of War Escapes**

Xiahou Dun found the old man in the courtyard by an artificial pond. The spot was in a peculiar place that he had never seen before but was secluded as the old man had said.

"Come, sit!" The man said joyfully without turning around. Dun had noticed that there were porcelain dishes set up on both sides of the table. Dun did what he was told. "Beautiful, aren't they?" Zuo Ci asked, looking at the docks that inhabited the concrete pond. Dun just grunted in response.

"Why have you sent me here?" he asked assertively. Ci then turned around to face him.

"We've gone over this before," he said, "We have unfinished business to take care of." Dun let out a sigh and rolled his eyes.

"There's never a straight answer with you, is there?" He asked rhetorically. Ci smiled and bobbed his head in a snake-like pattern and folded his hands over his knee.

"Last time we met," he started, "I gave you the task of fetching me a flower, did I not?" Dun nodded in agreement. "Well… may I have that flower?" Dun stared for a while, then rummaged through his armor to get to his clothes underneath. He pulled out the crumbled up flower and handed it to Ci. Ci took it in both hands shaking his head and tsking at the mess it had turned into.

"Are you going to explain what it's for now?" Dun asked irritably.

"Well," started Ci, "It was the secret ingredient for my home made tea, but now I'm not sure it will work due to your irresponsibility to take care of it." Zuo Ci crushed the flower up in a bowl and drained the liquids out of it. He poured the contents into the tea container on the table and stirred slightly.

"There we are." He proclaimed happily. Ci then poured both him and Dun a cup of the tea. "Go on, go on. Don't worry it isn't poisonous. It's my special green tea." He said as he lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip. "Warms your gizzards I always say." Dun took a sip and it was refreshing and relaxing.

"Doesn't that calm you down?" Ci asked. Dun shrugged.

"Is this why you sent me to get you that flower?" Dun asked, "So we could have this little tea party?" Ci started laughing. Dun hated his laugh, it was so annoying.

"My child," started Ci, "More times than not the quest is much, much more about the journey than the destination. Tell me, did you happen to meet someone when you went to get this little flower?" Dun thought for a moment,

"There was this woman." Dun said. Ci nodded and beckoned for him to continue. "That was it, I met a woman. I hear that she is to be wed to Cao Pi soon." Ci took another sip,

"Ah yes," he started, "Nothing changes the heart of a man better than a woman." Ci eyed Dun with a sly look on his face. Dun looked at him in disgust,

"I have no such feelings for her!" He said loudly, "I know better than to interfere with those affairs. And besides," he took a sip of tea, "I told myself long ago that a woman in my life would only make things much, much more difficult." Zuo Ci shook his head,

"My boy," he said, "let me know if I'm wrong. All your life you have done all that you could to destroy lives for what you and your family believed in, hmm? You are good at this, very good, no? So good that it has regrettably become your only talent and you have taken on a very sadistic lifestyle because of it. You no longer feel the regret of destroying so many lives because you have displaced that regret by telling yourself that people die in war and it is necessary for them to die because if they do not then that means either you or your allies will die, am I correct?

"Well let me blow this down your pipe and tell me how it tastes." Ci's tone had become more agitated now, "What if you could actually save a life for once, _not_ by killing, hmm? What if by making you retrieve this flower, I gave you an opportunity to do this. All you have to do now is find a way to do this and act on it."

"What do you mean?" asked Dun, "Why would I want to do this?"

"So that you can once again feel that you have made a difference for the better when you haven't killed someone." said Ci, "It is a very invigorating experience, you have my word on that."

"How do I know where to start?" Ci started laughing again,

"You have already answered that, my child." His voice seemed to trail off into the wind and he once again disappeared into the sky, leaving behind that wretched laughter that Dun hated so much.

Dun finished the last of the tea. "I'm really starting to hate that man."

Diao Chan took a step out of the door to her quarters and was blasted by the rays of the midmorning sun and she had to squint until her eyes adjusted. She put her hand on her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun when she heard a familiar whinny from a horse.

She turned around towards the stables and saw that Guan Yu had just finished putting the saddle on Red Hare. Red Hare had been the most magnificent horse she had ever seen, even if he was as stubborn as his former master. He bucked and thrashed around as Guan Yu tried to mount him. Chan had noticed before that Guan Yu always had some sort of trouble when he went to mount the stallion despite the fact that he was an accomplished horseman.

Chan went over to help calm the steed. She felt slightly awkward seeing as how she never really talked with the great Guan Yu in a one-on-one conversation before. She had just opened the small stable door when Yu spun around and aimed his halberd at her face,

"Can I help you, miss?" His blade stayed where it was.

"I was just coming to see if you needed any help." She said feebly.

"Mm hmm," He lowered his weapon and continued his attempts at mounting the horse. "I don't need any help thank you."

"You have to rub his nose like this," She went up and patted his face and he calmed down slightly. Yu finally had the chance to mount him in peace.

"Thank you," he said, "But if you'll excuse me, I must be going now."

"Wait," she said, "I noticed that you packed for what seems like a long trip. May I ask where you are going?"

"It's none of your concern."

"Cao Cao hasn't announced what his next plans will be, so why would one of his generals be moving out?" Guan Yu glared at her, "Would it be that you are deserting?"

"What are you going to do?" he said angrily, "Report me? Stay out of my way." Chan instead blocked his path.

"Please," she said, "Take me with you." Yu raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I can't stay here!"

"It seems that Cao Cao has treated you with the most respect out of his… female companions. Why would you want to leave?"

"I don't belong with Cao Cao, I need to be anywhere but here. Please, you have to take me with you!" Yu seemed to be contemplating this. "I won't be any trouble I swear. I'll keep up with you and if I fall behind you can leave me."

"You better keep your word on that." he said, "If you do, you can come, but do _not_ fall behind or I'll leave you for the buzzards."

"Thank you! Thank you so much! You won't regret this!" Chan exclaimed excitedly. "Just let me get my things!" She ran back to her quarters and grabbed what she could carry.

Chan turned around to leave when she saw Zhen Ji sitting in her room. "Ji!" she yelled, "Ji! You have to follow me, you have to come with me! We can get you out of here before that devil Cao Pi ever touches you!"

"Chan, I…I-" Chan then looked down and saw the ring across her finger and gasped.

"He…" Ji nodded, "When? I heard Cao Cao talking about it in the banquet but-"

"It was today," Ji interrupted, "He wanted to keep it short and simple. Get it over with quickly."

"Ji you ca-"

"I have no choice but to stay. I don't know where you're going or how but I can't come with you." Chan threw herself around Ji's neck.

"I'm so sorry." She said, "I won't forget you." She pulled back and saw that Ji was crying.

"Go," she said, "You still have a chance to get out of this." Chan walked to the end of the hallway and turned back, holding back tears with all her might. Ji smiled and walked back to her room.

Chan looked back to see the light at the end of the hallway. She took off at a run and found her way to the stables. Guan Yu was still there like he said.

"Hurry up," he said, "I was supposed to leave an hour ago!" Chan found a horse she liked and packed her gear on the back of it and mounted it herself.

"I'm ready," she said. The two snuck out the back of the fortress and were greeted by Zhang Liao. They drew there weapons in defense.

"Put those away," Liao said without looking up, "I knew this was going to happen with both of you."

"Liao…" Yu began to say.

"You might want to hurry," Liao said, "Doing this in the middle of the day means that someone other than me is bound to see you two doing this." Chan and Yu just looked at him for a while before Yu started to ride off, Chan still stared at Liao. He always knew almost everything about her even when the two of them were in Dong Zhou's service.

She brought herself out of it and continued to follow Yu. This was easier said than done seeing as how Red Hare was the fastest horse in all of China. Yu had told her what he planned to do; he had been secretly sending letters to his sworn brother Liu Bei. Liu Bei had taken up camp in Chang Ban and it was only a matter of time before Cao Cao's forces realized what Bei was trying to do.

He was gathering up all of the suffering peasants that he had come by and was planning to leave to look for a land to call his own. Bei knows that Cao Cao won't stand for this at all and knows that Cao will try to pursue him.

Bei wants Yu to go to Jing and recruit some reserve soldiers that Liu Bei had stationed there and take a fleet of ships to Chang Ban to act as reinforcements and as a means of transport to flee from Cao Cao.

This excited Chan not only because she could finally get away from Cao Cao, but because she might get to finally see Zhao Yun again. She road on as hard as she could, she could barely see the trail of dust that Red Hare kicked up.

Then suddenly, the dust went away and she saw Red Hare had come to a complete stop in the distance. She pulled up behind Yu and saw right away what had stopped him. Xiahou Dun had his blade inches away from Yu's neck.

"Well, well." He said devilishly, "Look what we have here. Two deserters fleeing for Liu Bei I'm assuming."

"Run Chan!" Yu yelled.

"_Don't_ run Chan!" Dun mockingly yelled, "There are archers hidden in the hilltops above here that would love to make sure that you won't get far if you do. Now I'm going to ask for both of your complete cooperation, we don't want things to get messy around here."

Dun tried to force them back in the direction they came when Yu swung his halberd around and threw the one-eyed general off his horse. Yu tried to make a break for it when Dun slashed him off of his steed as well. The two clashed in a duel.

"Well it looks like I can finally put an end to the mighty Guan Yu after all." Dun smiled.

"Chan go! He's bluffing about the archers! Go to Jing, you know what to do!" The two sliced and stabbed at each other as Chan started to make a break for the valley. She turned around and looked at the two men as they fought. Dun had Yu on the ground and aimed for a blow at his head. Yu rolled to his side and struck Dun in the leg but his armor caught the blow.

Chan ran over with her chain whip ready and struck Dun in the back. Once again his armor caught the blow but he was knocked off of his balance. She aimed another strike at him but he caught it with his sword and yanked her off her horse. She rewound the whip with her hands and went into a defensive position.

Now it was two against one but Dun didn't seem like he was going to back down any time soon. Dun launched an attack at Chan and she parried only to find that he was already engaging Yu and Dun looked to have the upper hand. She watched the two more closely now and realized then the prowess of their martial skill. She almost couldn't track their movements and couldn't even fathom how they could defend against such swift and powerful attacks.

She then realized that Yu had a job to do and needed to reunite with his brothers more than she needed to escape. She ran up to Dun and wrapped her whip around his leg and yanked him to the ground,

"Yu you need to go!" she yelled, "Liu Bei needs you!"

"I'm not going to leave you to die!"

"You need to!"

"No!" Chan realized that Yu would never leave on his own accord. She brought her fingers up to her lips and whistled the way she heard Lu Bu whistle. Red Hare came stampeding his way up to her. She positioned herself in front of Guan Yu and waited.

Dust was spewing on both sides of the road as Red Hare made his way to her. She waited for the precise time and jumped. He collided headlong into Guan Yu and like it was rehearsed thousands of times with Lu Bu, the steed threw the man onto his back. It was quite a sight to see a heavy man like Guan Yu being thrown like a rag doll into the air and landing on the red-tinted stallion.

The horse never stopped and Guan Yu never mentally grasped what had happened to him. The stallion rode at top speed in the direction of Jing.

"No!" Dun yelled and slammed his fist into the ground. He looked back up at Chan, "_You!_" He gritted through his teeth and grabbed her by her hair, "I'll serve your head to Cao Cao on a gold platter for your attempt at desertion and assisting a general in deserting!" He rose his blade up and Chan watched in pain and in shock as it glinted off the light of the sun.

Just as it came down there was a clanking sound. Chan looked up to see what looked like an ornate flute in a deadlock with Dun's large scimitar. Dun threw Chan down to the ground and pushed the flute away. The person carrying the flute was none other than Zhen Ji.

"You can't hurt her!" Ji shouted.

"And why the hell not?" Dun said in an eerily calm voice.

"She is to be one of Cao Cao's wives!" Dun took a step back and looked at her with a puzzled look.

"I was never aware of this, are you sure?"

"Yes, my husband says that his father is waiting because it is supposed to be a surprise." Chan knew that Dun wouldn't fall for this, but then Dun started to give in.

"Take her back with you then." He said, "And consider both of yourselves lucky that I didn't kill you two. And if I catch either one of you trying to desert my lord again, you will _beg_ me to kill you." He rode off back to the fortress and left the two girls alone.

"You didn't have to do that." Chan said.

"Come on," Ji said, "We have to get you back, you're hurt."

"What-" Chan reached up and saw that her arm had turned a dark brown from the blood. She then felt the spark of pain that came with it. Ji helped her up onto her horse.

"Thank you," she said, "I never knew that he would believe that."

"Neither did I, I was positive he was still going to kill you."

"Did you notice something?"

"What?"

"The way he looked at you when you stopped him."

"He was surprised that I had done it."

"No, his eyes they… it almost looked like they sort of… lit up."

"I think you hit your head too, no more talking until we get you back to the fort." Chan agreed and smiled at her. Ji just shook her head.

A/N: Thanks for the horse tip Lady Grasshopper.


	18. What You Really Deserve

"**What you **_**Really Deserve"**_

**A/N: **_This chapter could possibly be rated M. I do feel kind of bad writing it._

The moldy walls of the cell chilled Diao Chan to the bone as she was thrown into them. The sudden absence of light made her temporarily blind and all she could make out was the slamming of the cell door and the voices of her captures.

"Is this how you repay my lord's hospitality?" It had to have been no one other than Dian Wei. "He treated you better than any of the women here, even better than his late wife! But all of that wasn't good enough for you, was it? You're supposed to be all so pampered and my lord wasn't giving you what you thought you deserved.

"Well now I'm giving you what you _really _deserve." Chan heard the cell door creak open once more. "What are you two bozos still doing here? I said leave!" Next came the nervous pitter-patter of the guards' frantic footsteps as they left the prison.

Chan's eyes had now started to adjust to the darkness and she could make out the enormous silhouette of the general coming closer and closer. She heard his demonic laughter as he drew nearer still, toying with her like she was a cornered prey and he the predator.

"I'm giving you what you _really_ deserve." It sounded like he had whispered it into her ear. Chan knew what was about to happen next and she wasn't going to let it with every fiber of her being.

She saw him stop and they stared at each other for several moments. Chan could now see a glimpse of the devilish smile on his face. She was determined to hold her ground. He was going to have to rip her dignity from her dead hands.

He finally lunged but she slipped out of his grasp. She tried to fumble with the cell door but it was locked. "Come here!" Wei yelled as he lunged again. This time he caught her and held on much tighter. Chan kneed him in the groin and escaped. She then aimed a kick at where she guessed his head to be and connected with something.

Chan heard the man groan out of pain and she frantically searched for the keys to the cell that he was carrying. She thought she touched something metal but when she tried to look further, the general caught her hand in a vice-like grip.

"Ahh!" She yelled.

"You shouldn't have done that, missy." The man said more calmly yet even more evil than before. He pinned her hard up against the cold wall of the cell and held her by the throat. Chan struggled and wiggled all she could but was stopped when an enormous fist slammed into her temple. The cold of the wall was replaced by something warm and liquid. A feeling of dizziness quickly came over her. She was even weaker than before and she could feel that Wei wasn't losing his previous strength.

She felt him fumble with something on her and felt a new cold that brought her to her knees. She realized what had just happened and that she could do nothing. A new feeling of terror seized her. She heard his demonic laugh once more as he fumbled with something on himself. She didn't have to guess as to what it was.

"Please!" She yelled, "You cant do this!"

"Oh why not?" Wei mocked, "Are you upset I didn't marry you first?" She could see his demonic smile once again. He came closer and closer to her until he was up on her. It was only a matter of time before it would happen.

It took everything Chan had to keep from screaming, but she knew that this wouldn't help and that it would only fuel the man's lust. She did the only thing that she could think of at that moment: she prayed.

"There's no mighty Lu Bu to save you now, beautiful. Hahahaha!" She felt him wind up ready to thrust. She closed her eyes for a split second before snapping them open as she heard the cell door burst open and Dian Wei was off of her somehow. She collapsed to the floor trying to heave the breath that the man restricted her of.

She heard the thumping sound of flesh and bone hitting flesh and bone. There was a clanking of metal and whatever the disturbance was made its way outside the cell. It lasted for around a minute and all Chan could make out was the thumping sound and the occasional grunt.

Then there was the sound of screaming and an even louder banging noise. This was followed by the distinct _shlink_ sound that Chan heard too many times; it was no doubt the sound of a weapon being unsheathed.

"No, wait! This is all a big misundersta-"

"Save your excuses, Wei." Chan made out the voice of the one-eyed general that had intercepted her earlier. "This is unforgivable Wei. What do you think Cao Cao would do to you if he found out?"

"Why would he-"

"I don't think he would take too kindly to one of his bodyguards stripping away the dignity of his fiancé before he had the chance to marry her."

"Wh… what?"

"Don't be a fool, Wei. Get out of here before I kill you."

"This isn't over Dun." There was the slamming of a door and she heard the other man sheath his weapon. She heard him walking over to her cell. She saw his silhouette and remembered that she was naked.

"G-go away." She said as she backed herself into a corner.

"I'm not here to hurt you." he said, "Here." Something plopped onto the ground next to her. She picked it up; it was a towel.

"I won't look." He said. Chan still wasn't sure what his intentions were yet, so she stared at his back the whole time she dressed herself.

"I'm done." she said.

"Let's get you back to your quarters." He said as he started to walk. "You're hurt."

Chan then reached to the back of her head and felt the warmth of the blood from her head. From the darkness of the prison, she could see that the blood on her hand wasn't too bad, so she knew that she wasn't hurt bad. But she wondered how the man knew she was hurt, had he seen that she was slammed into the wall? Or did he just assume that she was hurt?

Many questions filled her head as she walked to her quarters. Why did he save her? What was he going to do to her? How long had he been there? They then arrived at her room.

"I don't know why you did it, but thank you." She said, the man stopped but didn't turn to face her.

"I'm not the one you should be thanking." He said and continued to walk.

_Xiahou Dun heard someone running to his tent. He looked up and saw a hand throw open the flap, it was Zhen Ji. _

"_Please!" She panted, "Diao Chan is in trouble, Dian Wei went down to her cell and-"_

"_You lied to me." Dun interrupted,_

"_Wh- what?" _

"_I asked lord Cao Cao myself and he said he has no plans to make Diao Chan his wife." Dun stood up and gathered his belongings. "Now why would you tell me a thing such as that?"_

"_I had to." She said, "You wouldn't have let her go if I didn't, would you?" Dun ignored her and walked out of the tent._

"_Please," Ji said quieter now, "If there is any goodness in your heart please do me- do her- this one favor." Dun stopped but did not turn around. "She doesn't want to be here, she just wants to go where her friends are. She is being kept against her will, please help her. She is a good person and doesn't deserve this."_

_Dun shook his head, "Alright," he mumbled. Ji walked up to him,_

"_Thank you," She kissed him on the cheek, "From the bottom of my heart, thank you."_

Dun kept asking himself why he had done it. He kept telling himself it was because he was helping the girl because Zuo Ci told him it was to help himself, but Dun couldn't settle on that answer. Was there something else? He had no idea and didn't care. He wanted it to just be because Zuo Ci told him to. So Dun settled on that.

Dun knocked on a lavish door. His cousin opened it up,

"Good, you made it." He said, "Please come on in."

Dun sat himself down on the chair in front of Cao's desk. He shook his thoughts away from the girl. He had a battle to win.


	19. Battle at Chang Ban

Battle at Chang Ban

"**He's on his way to Jing with several, possibly hundreds of followers, civilians." Cao Cao stroked his chin as he heard this. **

"**He is dangerous, cousin." **

"**How so?" Xiahou Dun asked, "The man doesn't even have a land to call his own." Cao got up out of his chair and gazed out the window.**

"**It is not the amount of territory he owns, it is his influence on the people." Cao said, **

"**I always considered that a weakness." Replied Dun, Cao turned back around.**

"**The people one leads can mean the difference between a nation's prosperity or a nation's death." Cao said, "It is also not only the people, it is one's bloodline as well. Do you know what he is, cousin?"**

"**I don't see how that has anything to do with-"**

"**It has **_**everything**_** to do with this. If he can influence that many people and if they discover his bloodline, my vision will be destroyed." Dun was in shock. He never realized it before. "That is why he is dangerous and that is why we must destroy him, cousin."**

**Dun bowed, "You have my word that I will do everything I can to ensure this, cousin. For the sake of your vision!" **_**Whatever that may be**_**, he silently added. **

**He was dismissed and gathered his gear and rallied the men. **_**This is sure to be the beginning of an epic struggle.**_

**People: so many people. Zhao Yun had heard that Liu Bei had gathered an enormous following, but this number was far greater than Yun could have ever imagined. The only problem that faced them was Cao Cao, until they crossed Chang Ban and made it into Jing, they were at the mercy of Cao Cao. **

**So far it looked like they would be able to make it to Jing uninterrupted, that is if the people could move faster. If this was a disciplined army they would already be setting up camp in Jing. This mass of people slowed the army down greatly.**

**Liu Bei had picked up a new ally in his quest; the famed Sleeping Dragon, Zhuge Liang. He was said to be the greatest mind in the land and the best strategist in China. So far he hadn't done anything that made him deserve that title in Yun's opinion. He always sat quietly by Liu Bei's side, observing the troops and their surroundings. **

"**There it is!" Someone shouted, "The Chang Ban river! We're almost there!" Yun squinted to get a better look at the horizon and surely enough, the outline of a river slowly merged itself into the land. **

**There were a few sighs of relief, but they were short lived. The sound of a horse stampeding through the lines made everyone turn around to look.**

"**My lord!" the messenger yelled, "We have picked up what appears to be Cao Cao's forces, they are only three kilometers away and closing fast!" This threw everyone into a panic and Liu Bei tried to calm everyone down but to no avail.**

"**QUIET!" Boomed Zhang Fei, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked on at the fearsome general in awe and in terror. **

"**Thank you Zhang Fei," said Liu Bei, "Please everyone, do not panic! You must all get to the river safely. Now please, if you could only take what you absolutely need so we can get to the river quickly." Despite Bei's attempts, there was still an essence of chaos and panic among the civilians. Some hastily gathered all of their belongings while others completely abandoned everything. **

**Yun noticed that Bei and Zhuge Liang were having a conversation that was apparently angering the young lord. Yun rode over to see what was the matter,**

"**My lord," he asked, "Is something wrong?"**

"**I have told him that it would be the best choice if he too were to escape with the people and leave the fighting to us." Said Zhuge Liang very calmly.**

"**And I will not leave my men to die!" Replied Liu Bei.**

"**My lord, these people and your men will have nothing if you were to be captured or killed. Now please, you requested me to join you three times for my council, will you not heed it?" Bei looked distressed.**

"**Alright," he agreed, "But only if the people escape first." The two agreed and everyone got to work. **

**Zhao Yun help usher the civilians to the escape point carefully. It was then that he noticed a problem; there were no signs of boats anywhere all along the river. They could just hope that Guan Yu would get there in time.**

**Yun continued to assist the civilians when he heard a few men talking about Liu Bei leaving something behind. He drew in closer to them to listen,**

"**I saw them, it was our lord's wife and child. They are still in the town!" Yun made his way right up to them,**

"**What did you say, sir?" he asked,**

"**I saw it with my own eyes, our lord's wife and child didn't make it out of the town!" the man replied.**

"**Are you sure that they didn't make it out? Maybe they found their way out some other way." Said Yun.**

"**I don't know, sir. It's possible they made it out, but I don't know." Just then, cries came from off in the distance: war cries.**

**Yun whirled Titan around and headed back North.**

**Cao Cao's forces had been traveling the mountainous terrain all along the lands south of Xu Chang and had yet to find any trace of Liu Bei's army. They came across a small town that they found out had been used by Liu Bei and his people; it was deserted now. **

**It was a couple kilometers later that they saw the river. It wasn't the greatest of rivers they had seen but it might as well have been. They knew Liu Bei's army was regrouping at the Chang Ban river and therefore knew exactly where to meet up with him.**

"**Alright men!" Shouted Xiahou Dun, "That river is our destination, we will meet up with Liu Bei there!" Xiahou Dun was left in command of the vanguard unit that led Cao Cao's forces. He was left with a minimal amount of men compared to Cao Cao's main force who was to arrive later on as reinforcements. **

**As the army made its way down yet another hill, they spotted it. It looked like a river winding its way down towards Chang Ban but unlike the first river, it seemed to be moving through the land.**

**Xiahou Dun gasped in awe when he discovered what it truly was: people.**

"**So those are the people following Liu Bei." Exclaimed Zhang Liao,**

"**It's like the ever-moving threads in a banner swaying in the wind." Swooned Zhang He,**

"**This is why Liu Bei is a threat to lord Cao Cao!" Shouted Dun, "His ability to draw people towards him could bring down everything we and our lord stand for!" Dun then saw the river split down the middle as a rush of green came storming up towards their position. **

"**Do not underestimate them, they are like cornered animals! So attack carefully! All units, **_**attack!"**_

_**Zhao Yun had woken to the first time he had had the chance to sleep in a week, yet it was a terrible sleep once again. The dreams he had with his phantom opponent occurred less often but where the only thing he dreamt about. Other nights he didn't dream at all. **_

_**These dreams became more and more vivid and Yun could practically feel the spear in his hands, the weight of the attacks he made and blocked, and even the wounds he sustained. All of them still ended the way they usually did with Yun waking up just before Lu Bu delivered a death blow.**_

_**Yun walked out of his tent and started packing immediately, Liu Bei's army was still constantly on the move. He was greeted with a familiar raspy voice,**_

"_**Looking a bit groggy this morning, are we?" Yun continued to pack,**_

"_**They won't stop," he said, "I feel like I must actually confront Lu Bu to get rid of them." Zuo Ci made himself visible,**_

"_**This is not uncommon, young dragon." Ci started, "This task you speak of may be able to rid you of these dreams, but as you know this is impossible. Maybe another task may act as a substitute for this."**_

"_**Are you saying I have to fight someone just as strong as Lu Bu?" asked Yun, "But there is no one." Ci tsked and shook his head,**_

"_**Is that all you warriors think of?" he asked, "Fight this, fight that, fight them. It's always the same. Do you ever think of saving a life for once? Doing some **_**actual**_** good for a change instead of doing all you can to destroy in the name of your leader?" Yun looked at him puzzled, "All you need to do is something great enough to equal this action. Whether it be defeating a mighty foe, saving a life, or doing something to better the land. You pick, young dragon." Zuo Ci then jumped in the air and transformed into his crane form once more.**_

"_**I leave you with that, my child." His voice echoed, "Choose wisely." Yun finished packing and mounted Titan. All the while pondering on what he could possibly do to rid himself of these tortuous dreams.**_

**Yun swung his blade and cut down yet another enemy troop. He only hoped that what he had planned to do would finally bring an end to his hellish nights. So far he faced minimal resistance. All common troops, most were either to afraid or in shock that one of Liu Bei's men had dared to charge through the front lines without even the slightest bit of backup. **

**Yun made his way to the outskirts of the town. The enemy positions were more dense here than anywhere before. He still cut down scores of men and even confronted an occasional officer, but that didn't last long at all. For the first time in his life Yun was filled with a feeling of invincibility, but he knew better. He dismissed the feeling as quickly as it came; that kind of attitude is how strong soldiers are easily killed.**

**He saw the gates that were the entry point to the town and rode towards them. He was caught off guard by the blow that threw him off his horse. He immediately recovered and swung his spear around in a 360 degree spin. He felt that he landed a few strikes but most of the enemy troops had formed a circle around him. He turned around to see a grinning officer with his sword pointing at his heart.**

**The two clashed right away as the duel began. Yun stayed defensive for the majority of the fight to gauge how well this man's martial skills were: Yun came to the conclusion of not very good. The man appeared to believe that the battle was his from the very beginning. Yun switched tactics and dodged one of the officer's blows by sidestepping to the side and slashing at the man's ribcage. The man blocked and Yun continued his attack by swinging around and smacking the man in the forehead with the blunt side of his spear. Yun jumped up and kicked the man in the back and somersaulted behind him. He stood back up in a defensive position and waited for the man to regain his balance. The man was infuriated by this last maneuver and charged at Yun. Yun stood his ground and waited for the man to swing his blade at him. Once this happened, Yun caught it with his spear, spun it around to his right and followed through with the blunt side of the spear once again. This was followed immediately by a jumping kick to the face and Yun spun around and lifted his blade in an upward swinging motion. This sent his opponent's sword flying into the air and also cut into the man's hands. Before the officer had time to scream in pain, Yun plunged his spear into the man's heart, piercing his armor.**

**He felt all of the man's weight as he went limp onto the spear. The dead officer's sword stuck itself blade first into the ground by Yun's feet. He picked it up, examined it and secured it into his belt. Yun kicked the man off of his spear and focused his attention on the shocked foot soldiers that witnessed the fight. Their shock was soon replaced by determination as they charged Yun. He held them back by slicing his way through all of them. It had to be an entire platoon. Once he finished them off, he saw reinforcements making their way to his location. He whistle for his steed and continued on his current path.**

"**Zhang He, take the main force and charge down the middle. Zhang Liao, hold back with the cavalry and join the battle as reinforcements once you are called upon. Xu Huang, take your force and around the side and flank the enemy's main force. I will head to the river bank and ambush the enemy once they get close enough. We have to hold Liu Bei at least until lord Cao Cao arrives with reinforcements." Xiahou Dun reminded the officers of the plans that they had agreed upon. "Do **_**not**_** attack the civilians." he added.**

"**My master Xiahou," said Zhang He, "If we strike down the people, wouldn't that provoke Liu Bei to pursue us instead? That is a beautiful plan, is it not?"**

"**Lord Cao Cao specifically stated that no innocents are to be harmed. These people were once loyal to Cao Cao. Killing them will not regain their loyalty." Replied Dun,**

**The armies charged at their foes and set up positions based on where they were told to go. Xiahou Dun's forces charged the front lines and easily broke through. They circled around a path to the East that could both conceal their positions and offer them a quick route to the river that would allow them to get ahead of their enemy's ever-changing position. They made sure no one had seen them and took cover in the shallow brush along the riverbank. **

**Xiahou Dun had a little under 500 troops and knew that he wouldn't be able to hold Liu Bei's force for long. He was told that once Cao Cao's main force arrived, that he would be reinforced and that they were to trap Liu Bei in a pincer maneuver. He only hoped that his cousin would get there before it was too late.**

**Once inside the enemy occupied town, Zhao Yun began to search for the building that his lord and his family were staying in. He managed to get inside quickly and killed any troops that saw him. From what he heard, the enemy knew he was inside but did not know where. He began to covertly roam about the town looking for any sign of his people. The only thing he found was the occasional dead bodies of those who never made it out in time. He was fortunate to find that none of these had been Liu Bei's wife or child. **

**Once Yun rounded a courtyard, he saw them. Lady Gan was hidden amongst a pile of hay and used barrels and boxes. Yun approached her slowly,**

"**My lady," he said, "I am here to rescue you, I mean you no harm." The woman just stared at the ground in front of her. "Please," Yun extended his hand.**

"**Take him." The woman said in a monotone voice. She held out a bundle of cloth that Yun assumed contained an infant. Yun took the child,**

"**But my lady," said Yun, "You must come as well."**

"**I will only slow you down." She replied, "Please, just take my son and return him to my husband." Yun didn't leave,**

"**My lady," he said assertively, "I will not leave without you." The woman stood up and took a few steps back. It was then that Yun noticed the well. The woman had tears in her eyes.**

"**Tell Bei that I love him and Shan with all my heart." She took a few more steps back,**

"**My lady!" Yun yelled, but it was no use. He watched the woman silently plunder into the well and heard the watery smack as she hit the bottom. Yun bowed his head in sorrow, but did not stay that way for long. He realized that he may have shouted those last words a little too loudly. He tucked the baby into the breast plate of his armor and looked for the quickest way out of the town.**

**He was greeted by the edges of spears as he turned a corner. He reacted so quickly, the men didn't have time to blink. He cut both of them down but saw more coming in the distance. He whistle for Titan and once again mounted him and made his way to the exit. **

**By now, soldiers had it completely blocked but they had never come across a horse like Titan. Yun kicked the horse twice with his heels and the horse soared above the road block. Yun landed hard and heard that the baby had started wailing. He had forgotten that he had been carrying him and forgot how fragile babies really were. He had to be careful now.**

**Yun made it back to the front lines a lot quicker than he had left them. Even with the baby in his breast he still cut down more men than he could count, among them officers. He had made it to the point where Liu Bei's army first saw the river. He could see almost the entire battlefield from there. He saw the blurs of blue and green clashing all over and his heart sank when he saw that the blue heavily outnumbered the green.**

**He charged back into the fray on the battlefield. He noticed that these troops were a lot more ferocious and their numbers were much greater than farther back behind the lines. He cut through them nonetheless. He finally managed to get to where the fight had previously began. He knew this because of the bodies of blue and green clad soldiers that littered the ground. **

**Yun got far enough to see that the enemy soldiers had a better sense of direction as to where they were going. He knew that if he just followed them, he would find his lord, hopefully still alive. Yun was caught off guard once again when an arrow came streaming towards him. He just managed to block it but lost his balance and was thrown off his horse. He turned himself so that his back took the fall to make sure that he didn't land on the child he was still carrying. **

**He got back up and aimed an arrow at his attacker. He saw a man running towards him with very little armor and two metal claws attached to his hands. Yun shot an arrow at the man who easily deflected it. Yun put away his bow and placed the baby in the saddle of the horse instead of his breast plate.**

**Yun stood back and waited for the strike to come. The man's attacks were gracefully lethal and Yun had a hard time defending against the two-pronged attacks made by the metal claws. Yun had never faced a weapon like this and therefore stayed on the defensive the majority of the time. **

**As time went on, he began to realize that it was similar to fighting someone with dual swords, except the lethality came from an angle and it was easier for his opponent to catch his attacks. Yun had to admit, it was a very clever weapon. **

**The two lasted for several minutes. Yun was starting to get very tired. His adrenaline had lasted him for a while when he was rescuing Liu Shan, but now it seemed that it had run it's course. What brought Yun's hopes up was that the general seemed to be getting more aggravated as the battle carried on. **

**Yun went on the defensive once more. This time he was waiting for his opponent to make a mistake that would leave himself vulnerable to attack. After several more minutes, that opportunity finally came. The man made a wide swing at Yun with one claw and followed with the other in an identical motion. Yun dodged both and switched his forward hand to his left hand and made a quick thrust to his ribcage, but it was too slow. The man barely dodged it, but Yun kneed him in the gut and hit him in the back with the blunt end of his spear. He wheeled around swinging his spear in an upward motion but was again too slow. The man blocked it and pushed him back.**

**Now the two stared at each other from a decent distance away. Both were showing signs of fatigue and both knew that they had better things to do. They made a silent agreement with one another and the officer serving Cao Cao lowered his weapons in a sort of informal salute that the battle was over. Yun nodded and hopped onto his horse. The general did not, however, stop his troops from attacking Yun.**

**Fighting through the fatigue and relying on Titan for a lot of the work, he still cut through the lines but only focused on the soldiers that were a direct threat to either him or Titan. Yun even encountered a cavalry unit and clashed with it's commanding officer: Zhang Liao. **

"**It's you!" The man shouted, Zhao Yun nodded and broke away from the pursuit. He couldn't afford another engagement. He kept following the enemy troops until he made it to a bridge where they all crowded around and had stopped moving. Yun looked ahead to find out why.**

**He saw an immense looking figure cutting down wave after wave of troops. As Yun got closer, he recognized the man to be Zhang Fei. Yun rode up to him and was almost cut down by the monstrous man. Titan recoiled back in fright,**

"**Zhao Yun?" asked Fei, "We all thought you had been killed or left to serve Cao Cao!"**

"**My loyalty lies with lord Liu Bei!" replied Yun as he helped the man cut down more troops, "Please, you must tell me where he is so I can deliver his child to him!" **

"**He's farther down the road, just look for his men!" Yun started to go down the way Fei told him. "It's a good thing you showed up when you did!"**

"**Why is that?" **

"**Because I was about to do this!" Fei then plunged his spear into the bridge causing it to crack. He ran as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast, towards the southern side of the bridge. It fell apart as soon as he escaped and both men looked back at the bewildered enemy troops on the other side.**

"**Haha!" Shouted Fei, "Let's see you try to cross now, sissies! You might want to bring your swimming suites, and something to slow your fall! It's a long drop, hahaha!" Yun couldn't help but smile, leave it to Zhang Fei to turn a serious situation into a humorous one. **

**Both officers left to meet up with Liu Bei. They both arrived and Liu Bei was more shocked than either men had seen before.**

"**Brother!" Bei yelled, "I didn't know you made it out alive!" **

"**Yep!" replied Fei, "I even knocked out that pesky bridge!"**

"**And Zhao Yun! I feared you were dead!"**

"**Both I, sir, and your young child are unharmed."**

"**You… you brought him back to me? But why? I am a terrible father for leaving him behind."**

"**It was an accident, my lord. It would have happened to anyone."**

"**Well I know that I have him finally and words cannot describe how thankful I am."**

"**No thanks is necessary, my lord. I must warn you, there is a large cavalry unit lead by Zhang Liao heading your way. Even with the bridge destroyed they may be able to get past!"**

"**No matter," said Zhuge Liang, "I have employed measures that will stop them."**

"**Everyone, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei have returned!" Shouted a nearby soldier. Everyone around them raised their fists and weapons and let out a triumphant cry.**

"**Please," said Zhuge Liang, "Help is needed on the front lines."**

"**Right away." replied Yun, he and Zhang Fei rode down to the front lines.**

**Xiahou Dun and his forces were doing all they could to slow Liu Bei's forces. But he was losing men quickly and he could tell that their spirits were sinking. He kept asking his scouts if there was any sign of reinforcements on the way and/or if there was an allied force attacking Liu Bei from behind. The scouts said no to both.**

**This enraged Dun. The one time Cao Cao could easily get rid of Liu Bei and **_**he**_** was the one doing all of the work. His men's spirits sank even more when the boats that were to carry Liu Bei and his men away sailed past. His scouts reported that some of Liu Bei's men had managed to sneak through towards the West, but Dun told them not to pay attention to them. He told them to focus all their might on Liu Bei's main force.**

**His scouts then reported later that Guan Yu and his men arrived on the boats along with reinforcements for Liu Bei. Now it was Xiahou Dun's spirits that sank; if Cao Cao didn't show up fast, **_**he**_** would be the target of a pincer attack instead of Liu Bei.**

**It was good fortune that Liu Bei's forces found a hidden exit to the West. It was good for sneaking small amounts of men in and out but it was too small and narrow to get all of the men out through there. It also lead straight to the docks. Zhuge Liang tried to convince Liu Bei to get out that way, but of course Liu Bei refused to leave his men behind. Instead they sent the peasants along with a few soldiers out that way and hoped that they wouldn't get ambushed by Cao Cao's forces. **

**Cao Cao's forces that were blocking Liu Bei's path were small in number but were quality troops. They were difficult to break through but would be easily dispatched in time. More scouts showed up saying that Cao Cao's forces to the North have found the other way around to the East. Zhuge Liang ordered the sub units given by Guan Yu at the docks to make their way through the Western pass and join up with Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun. Once this happened they were to head back up North to defend Liu Bei's rear and to escort a task force Zhuge Liang had sent up there. **

**Once there, the two generals confronted a complete onslaught of Cao Cao's forces. Once the enemy saw who they were facing, the demon from the bridge that halted their advance with a single yell and the man that rode through their ranks and cut through them like a hot knife through butter, they stood their ground. It was then that the task force had completed their job and set the pace ablaze. The soldiers that were in the pass caught fire immediately and their comrades were to shocked to do anything about it. They had once again halted Cao Cao's advance… for now.**

"**Sir! We can't hold out! Guan Yu's force is heading this way and if they catch us we're done for!" Xiahou Dun was infuriated by this soldiers report but it wasn't because of his pessimistic attitude, it was because it was true. Xiahou Dun had all but given up, his scouts reported that the main force had finally found a way around but were stopped by a surprise fire attack set by Liu Bei's forces. To make things worse, there was still no sign of Cao Cao's reinforcements. **

**Xiahou Dun was about to tell the officer to pull back when he was interrupted by another one of his scouts.**

"**Allied reinforcements coming in from the North and East!" Before Dun could grasp what the man was saying, his remaining troops let loose a tremendous roar and charged at the enemy one more time. They were soon joined by more troops coming in from the Eastern pass.**

"**Compliments of lord Cao Cao." Said a bubbly voice. Dun turned around to see Xu Zhu with even more men behind him and he smiled.**

"**You fat fool, I don't know if I should kick your fat ass or kiss it!" The general shrugged sarcastically with a smile on his face and clumsily rushed to battle.**

**The reinforcements came without warning. Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei were caught up in a swarm of enemy troops. Cao Cao came with Dian Wei, Xu Zhu, Xiahou Yuan, and his son Cao Pi. Their spirits dropped when they heard a voice shout,**

"**Brave the flames! Nothing can lay waste to our beauty!" Enemy troops came rushing through the fire including major officers and a cavalry unit.**

"**Zhang Fei!" yelled Yun, "We should head back to our lord!"**

"**Good idea!" The two pulled their units back and served as a rear guard unit while Zhuge Liang ordered Guan Yu to launch a strike on the enemy in front of Liu Bei and abandon his defense of the docks. They would defend them once they were in danger. It was then that Liu Bei ordered an all out attack.**

**The path in front of Dun had turned to utter chaos. Liu Bei's troops were getting more rash now that the reinforcements came. He had been forced to participate even more. **

"**Sir look out!" Dun saw the shadow of an enormous figure behind him and jumped forward. He felt the wind of the monstrous blade as it plunged into the ground that he had been standing on. **

**He wheeled around to see Guan Yu charge at him once more, but Dun clashed with him and forced him off of his mighty steed. Dun then took the offensive and slashed at him. They got caught in a deadlock,**

"**Now is where it ends," Dun said through clenched teeth, "No woman here to save you now." Yu pushed him away and aimed another strike at him. They went into a deadlock once more.**

"**I would have slaughtered you without her help." Now Dun pushed him off and they fought once again. The two fought for minutes on end and Dun had forgotten about the progress of his troops, whish wasn't good.**

"**Master Xiahou, sir!" Yelled Xu Zhu, "We can't hold out! We have to pull back before we are completely destroyed!"**

"**No!" Shouted Dun, "I almost have him! And if we pull out then Liu Bei is sure to escape!"**

"**Lord Cao Cao says that his troops are moving through a narrow path to the West as we speak!" Dun knew the heavyset man was right, they couldn't last another second. He forced himself with all his might to say these dreaded words,**

"**Alright, men!" He shouted, "Pull back!" He pushed himself away from Guan Yu. "Hear me out, Yu. This is **_**not**_** the last time we will meet, do you understand that?" Guan Yu nodded and Dun mounted his steed and escorted what was left of his men out the pass they came in.**

**They had finally broken through. Zhao Yun wasn't sure how long they could defend against the constant onslaught of Cao Cao's forces. His scouts told him that the main force broke through. He followed suit right behind them. Liu Bei let the rest of the people escape and right then, Cao Cao's forces broke through the Western pass. Because of the size of the pass, the troops were minimal but Liu Bei's troops knew that there would be much, much more.**

**He finally escaped. Lie Bei was almost forced to board the boat. Zhao Yun stayed back to defend the remaining troops escaping. He saw a small band of battered soldiers that were guarding an equally small band of peasants that had yet to escape. The enemy soldiers were closing on them fast. **

**Yun leapt into the air and slammed down next to the enemy soldiers sending several flying. The soldiers stood back in fear.**

"**Go now!" Yun yelled to the allied soldiers, "Get yourselves and them people to safety!" The soldiers did as was told and Yun turned his attention to the enemy soldiers. They decided to attack all at once which Yun expected. He dodged one and sliced at another, he spun around and took the first one out by the feet. He dodged yet another attack, countered another. He jumped back and then leapt forward swinging his blade in a 180 degree arch, making contact every time. **

"**Zhao Yun!" He heard behind him, it was Liu Bei. "Come with us!" **

**Yun turned around and charged toward the dock. He dodged another soldier and jumped onto another. He leapt with all of his might toward the passing boat and he knew he fell short. Just as he was about to fall, a hand caught him and pulled him up. **

"**Careful kid! You could crack your head open doing that!" Said Zhang Fei,**

"**I do not fear the pain." Replied Yun, Liu Bei helped him up to his feet. **

"**You go above and beyond the call of duty, Zhao Yun." Said Bei,**

"**As long as I am able to stand and fight, I will advance your cause any way I see how and to the best of my abilities!" Liu Bei smiled.**

"**You have all done more for me than I could possibly ask today." Liu Bei said, "I do not deserve it."**

"**Don't say that, brother." Said Guan Yu, "We have all done this because you are a worthy leader. We wouldn't have done it otherwise."**

"**It's true," said Zhang Fei, "You bring out the best of people brother."**

"**Your virtue is like a beacon," said Zhao Yun, "It strengthens us to do whatever we can to aid you."**

"**You have the aspects of a true leader," said Zhuge Liang, "I think I'm speaking for everyone here when I say that I would go to the lengths of this world and the next if it meant that I could play a part in your dream." Liu Bei turned away and let a tear slide down his cheek. He looked up towards the horizon, his face stricken with determination absolute.**

"**Then let us go together!" He shouted, "Nothing can stop us! Together we will sever the strings of chaos and bring about a land of virtue and righteousness! **_**Who's with me?"**_** The entire fleet raised their fists in the air and let out a biblical roar that shook the heavens.**

**A/N:** That was a doozy. Sorry to the people that don't like long chapters. It was a battle that involved two of the main characters so it was a tad bit longer than usual because I wanted to get the best of both of their involvement. I hope Chi Bi won't be this long. XP


	20. Into the Garden, the Serpent did Come

**Into the Garden, the Serpent did Come**

Rage, exhaustion, disappointment, shame. These were just a few of the things Xiahou Dun had felt as he plunged his blade into the earth. He had been furious that he had been told to reroute because the remainder of the army was believed to catch Liu Bei elsewhere and that he had let Liu Bei escape, he was exhausted from fighting for so long unaided, he was disappointed in himself for letting his cousin down, and he was also shameful for the same reason.

Cao Cao then came strolling by on his horse, Shadow Runner. "Forgive me, cousin." Said Dun, "I was unable to capture him."

"Do not fret, dear cousin." Replied Cao, "His army is in shambles and his forces are weak. Today was a victory."

"There is no victory until Liu Bei's head is nailed to a post." Dun said, yanking his sword out of the earth,

"Come now, Dun. We have more in store for you. There is someone that I would like you to meet."

Dun followed Cao to his headquarters, Cao opened the flap allowing him in. Dun looked around and saw all familiar faces; officers, generals, strategists. There was one man Dun didn't recognize sitting to the right of Cao's chair, obviously the one that Cao was going to introduce. He had an elaborate purple and blue outfit and had a very pale, sickly white face. It reminded Dun of a snake.

Cao lightly hit his goblet with a spoon, "Everyone, I would like to introduce our new master strategist, Sima Yi." There was a dull murmur inside the tent, some people had pleased looks on their faces while others shook their heads in skepticism. Dun continued to observe the man's every motion.

"Now I know many of you are unsure about my decision to appoint an inexperienced tactician to master strategist this quickly, but Master Sima has already advised several military actions that could serve us tremendously in the future. This meal is held in his honor." There was a polite applause and Sima Yi bowed his head in a humble manner, but Dun saw the grin on his face.

Dun walked over and sat next to Cao Ren and the two nodded to each other in greeting. "Now if you don't mind, before the food is to be brought out, I would like you to divert your attention to Master Sima as he says a few words." The man stood up and was a lot taller than Dun initially thought,

"Thank you Lord Cao Cao for holding an initiation ceremony in my honor," he began, "And thank all of you for welcoming me into this grand army. I have…" His voice began to trail off in Dun's head. Dun observed the man's body language even closer, he even moved his head and his arms like a snake. All the while he kept that sly grin on his face.

The man trailed on about his past achievements and how he became acquainted with Cao Cao. The man obviously loved the attention he was getting, or so he thought was getting. All of the men just seemed bored and hungry, and Dun felt the same way.

"Talk about a textbook narcissist." Cao Ren mumbled. Dun let out a quiet chuckle and Sima Yi's eyes met with his. It was the wrong time to laugh apparently. Sima Yi eyed him like a schoolteacher trying to guilt an unruly child into submission. Dun just stared back at him unwaveringly. The two held eye contact for merely a couple seconds, but it seemed like hours.

Dun didn't show it, but the man's gaze sent chills up and down his spine. For that second, the man's egocentric demeanor was replaced by and even more reptilian aura than when Dun first saw the man. Like any man who was full of themselves, the man became infuriated when attention had been directed away from him or, heaven forbid, _his_ attention had been forced somewhere other than to himself.

Dun gazed right back at the man through his lone eye. Sima Yi wasn't the only person in the room who could kill with a look. The man blinked and once again continued his egotistic rant as if nothing had happened.

Later, when the man finally stopped talking and the men were served cold food, Cao Cao said that the man wanted to meet everyone personally, so Cao Cao himself started ushering tables up to the head table. Cao Cao kept making sure that everything was to the strategist's liking and seemed to be trying to be everywhere at once. It seemed to be getting more difficult to differentiate between who was the lord and who was the servant. Dun didn't like it at all.

Dun stood in line like the rest of the men at his table and watched the man more closely than ever. His movements just became more and more serpentine. Dun was next in line and the strategist slithered his hand out and gave him his version of a welcoming smile that turned out very sickly looking. Dun took the man's cold, grimy hand,

"And you must be the great general Xiahou Dun," Yi said, "Cao has told me much about you." Dun didn't like the way the man said "great" when he said his name, nor the way he referred to his cousin as simply "Cao."

"I will be sure to expect great things from you in the future." The man stared at Dun with a sadistic grin on his face.

"Well that means a lot coming from a strategist such as yourself," the man seemed to bathe in every compliment, "I'm sure you'd even be a match for Zhuge Liang." At the mention of that name, the strategist gave him the same glare he did before. It was even worse than before, this time it was Dun who backed down. He drew his hand back,

"Well, I think it's time for me to go back for seconds." Dun said,

"Yes, yes." Said Yi, "I didn't want to take you away from your meal. Please eat!" They bowed to maintain protocol and Dun departed, still haunted by the man's gaze. He took his seat just as Cao Cao clanged his silverware together once more.

"If I may have your attention once more," he exclaimed, "Sima Yi has granted me permission to proclaim his new proposal to you all. He has exclaimed that our army's momentum is at an all time high. No defeats and our morale is strong!" The participants of the ceremony clanged their silverware together in applause.

"He says that now is the perfect time to strike our enemy, they are weak and unprepared. Master Sima Yi has proposed that now is the time to instill our superiority in Jing province. Our plan is to lead a naval force to Jiangling. There we will set up a forward base to occupy the Yangtze river." There were some people applauding and others gave off a worried look. Cao Cao's forces, strong on land they may be, had almost no experience on the water. Hopefully they could take Jiangling easily and launch the majority of their attacks on land.

"You are all dismissed, we will move out first thing in the morning."

_Perfect,_ thought Dun, _let's find out if I have any sea legs._

"Mmmm." Zhao Yun groaned as he turned over in his bed, the midmorning light hit him like a smack to the face.

"Hehe!" Yun heard a familiar giggle, "It's time to wake up, sleepy head, your breakfast is getting cold." Yun started to drift back to sleep when a weight crashed down on him,

"Houmph!" He shouted and snapped his eyes open to see a smiling face that stole the breath from his lungs. "Diao Chan?" He whispered, she laughed again and pulled herself to him, her face centimeters away from his.

"Is it… is it you?" He asked befuddled, she smiled and her lips made contact with his. Her lips felt so real yet, he had never felt them before. This was only an assumption. He didn't care, he could feel her thick, brown hair and her silky smooth skin and the weight of her body on his. Yun knew what it was but didn't care, he wanted to stay this way forever.

Once she drew back, he peered into her smiling, warm face. Those eyes that he was blessed to see all those months ago gazing back at him. He reached up and touched her face and she leaned into his hand and he easily massaged the side of her neck.

"Well?" she asked,

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to be my little guinea pig and try out my knew recipe?" Chan pointed her shoulder at the table behind her with steaming bowls of who-knows-what. Yun got up and pulled up a chair.

"It smells a little funky," Yun said, "It better not kill me." He smiled at her and she mockingly took offense and whipped him lightly with her towel. "Abusive." He said sarcastically. They both laughed and he took a spoonful of the food, he didn't even pay attention to what was supposed to be the taste. He just wanted to look at her forever.

"Do you like it?" she asked,

"It'll pass." Yun replied. They both laughed.

"Let me get some-" She was interrupted by the wall smashing into the ground and the cries of soldiers pouring in behind it. She backed up and stood between Yun and the soldiers. She had no weapons and tried to defend against them unarmed. She was quickly overwhelmed by the soldiers. Yun tried to do something but his muscles were stone: he was frozen.

The soldiers tied Chan down and gagged her with rope. Yun tried to shout but his voice made no sound. The soldiers set fire to the house and an enormous figure came lurking in the shadow of the smoke and came ever closer to her.

Lu Bu threw her over the shoulder the same way he did when he kidnapped her from Luo Yang. As they were about to leave, she gave him that same look she did that broke his heart that same day as well. His voice finally came to,

"NnnnnnOOOOOO!" The light again hit his face like a sledgehammer. This time he was overcome by the aching and the soreness that plagued his body. He slammed his fist into the ground in anger. It didn't nearly have the effect he intended, his muscles were like sponges.

_They aren't over,_ he thought, _These damn things aren't over! What more do I have to do to get rid of these things!_ Then it came to him, did he do what he did at Chang Ban for his lord, or for himself? _What? Of course I did it for my lord!_ Yun told himself.

_Is that true, or are you just trying to convince yourself that you're the honorable, virtuous warrior you want people to believe you to be? _

_What? You don't know what you're talking about!_ He retaliated back at himself, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the other side of his conscience was right. He might be doing all of this just so that he could finally sleep. Would he have done all of that if he never had the haunting dreams?

_Of course I would!_ He scolded himself again. _The dreams just… brought it out of me._ Was what he was saying true? Yun held his head in his hands, he couldn't take this much thinking. He only prayed that he was the man that everyone saw him as after that feat at Chang Ban: a noble, courageous, virtuous and selfless officer under Liu Bei and not the selfish, attention seeking despot that he feared himself to be.

He snapped himself out of it and decided to finally get out of his bed, get dressed, and report in for the day.

He got up just in time apparently, Zhuge Liang and the new strategist Pang Tong had just come back from their visit to Wu. Even though the man had a very peculiar taste in clothing and Yun had yet to see his entire face, he was very fond of Pang Tong. His first impression of him was a lot better than his first impression of Zhuge Liang, even though he had the utmost respect for the man now. The hermit had a very subtle yet clever sense of humor that Yun really took to.

They had just said their hello's to everyone when Liu Bei approached them,

"Well, how did it go?" he asked,

"It is a bit shaky, but an alliance has been formed." Replied Pang Tong,

The goal of their visit was to request an alliance with Wu to hopefully make a strike at Cao Cao. Nobody seemed to think that this would work as Cao Cao didn't necessarily pose any sort of threat to Wu at that time, so Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang came up with a 'white lie' of sorts to tell Wu's commander Zhou Yu. They told him that Cao Cao was planning to abduct the two Qiao sisters and make them his concubines. This infuriated Zhou Yu and he hastily requested his lord to forge an alliance and strike Cao Cao. All according to plan.

The generals in the camp were called into the camp headquarters to discuss the battle plan. The only main officers that were to participate in the battle that were under Liu Bei's service were Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Guan Yu serving as reinforcements. Sun Quan had agreed to let Liu Bei borrow the land of Jing for a while and that is where Liu Bei's forces were to stay as reinforcements if things didn't go well for the Allies in the battle.

Zhao Yun wasn't particularly fond of this and neither were a few of the other generals. Liu Bei reasoned to them saying that their forces were in shambles and that they needed all the time they could afford to recuperate and that Liu Bei's forces were to offer aid in the form of last-minute reinforcements and supplies. To Zhao Yun, it meant another week or so of sleepless nights.

The stone made another plop in the water as Huang Gai unsuccessfully tried to skip another stone in the still waters of a lake. He had been pondering to himself rather deeply.

_I never though of the kid as a leader, _he thought. _I always suspected him to be a duke or something. Then again I never guessed that Sun Jian _and_ Ce would die on me._ He threw another stone, this one managed to skip a few times before it sank back into the lake.

He thought of the night he took Ce up to the mountain top. Now Gai was the only one that knew about that spot, it broke his heart. Maybe he could bring Quan up there one day. That was the thing that really got to Gai about Quan. He showed the elements of a true leader; despite the great tragedy that had taken place, the kid pulled himself out of it and kept on going. Better yet, he brought others back on the right track.

_And his speech…_ The other thing was that Ce needed Gai to pull him out of his depression. Quan on the other hand, pulled Gai out of that same depression with a simple speech at Ce's funeral.

_That kid is a true leader, and to think he was right under my nose this whole time._ Gai did admit that he had doubts about Quan, but the kid definitely showed Gai wrong.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps,

"Master Huang Gai?" It was Zhou Yu, "I came to talk to you." The man walked over and took a seat next to Gai. "You missed the briefing, where did you go?"

"I figured I needed some time to myself." Gai replied, he knew that wasn't a good enough answer, but Yu seemed to understand.

"Well just to sum things up, we have formed an alliance with Liu Bei."

"Really? I thought he didn't have much to offer."

"Well, he doesn't really, but Zhuge Liang is a good strategist, perhaps too good, and we can't afford to let a strong mind like his get away from us. Even if it is for a short while." Gai threw another stone in the lake, this one splashed rather violently on its surface.

"So we are going to attack Cao Cao like they said?" Gai asked,

"Yes, we're drawing up the plans to the battle as we speak." He walked over to a cart and picked it up, just barely.

"This," he heaved as he set the box down rather violently, "Is our newest weapon. There is a good chance that this battle will occur on the water and these babies are great at tearing holes into wooden boats." Zhou Yu bent down and pulled something out of the cart. It was a glossy, matte black ball with a line of string snaking its way out a solitary hole.

"Behold, the bomb." Yu said, "It's filled with gunpowder. Once you light this wick here, a spark travels down it into the gunpowder and it explodes sending this black shrapnel everywhere." Gai grabbed hold of the 'bomb' and examined it.

"Why are you showing this to me?" he asked,

"We figured that since you were the most seasoned officer in our army, that you might be a more responsible candidate to handle these weapons than the other _younger_ officers." Gai pointed at him,

"Watch the way you say 'seasoned' next time, boy." He said sternly. Yu was taken aback at first but Gai smiled and they both started laughing. "You care to give this a test run?" Gai asked,

"I'd be happy to." Yu reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of matches and lit one. He held it up to the wick and let it burn. Once it sparked, he immediately threw the black ball onto the lake shore. "Run!" Yu shouted. The two took cover behind a nearby bench. In a matter of seconds, the ball erupted into a cloud of red and clay and dirt shot up everywhere.

"Whooo!" yelled Gai, "That was great! Do it again!"

"We only have a select number of bombs, Gai. I can't be wasting these before a battle."

"Well can you at least give me a match so that I could give'em a try? You are assigning me to use these puppies, I might as well get a feel for'em" Yu sighed and reached back into his pocket,

"I suppose so." He said as Gai took the light,

"Yes!" Gai ran up to the box and grabbed another one, he ran like a little kid about to try out a brand new toy for the first time. He lit one up and threw it about 30 yards down the shore. It exploded and sent splinters of wood from a nearby tree into the air. Gai once again whooped and hollered in delight.

"I knew that you would be the perfect officer to use these." Said Yu, not sure if Gai was listening. "You have the most discipline, you're responsible, you can probably heave these things a mile away, but most of all you're responsible. Isn't that right Gai?" He looked up and saw that Gai was gone,

"Gai?" Just then the sound of a spark reached Yu's ears. He turned around to see a grinning Huang Gai come running after him.

"Come on, commander!" The man lifted Zhou Yu over his shoulder and took off as fast as he could down a hill closer to the lake.

"Gai!" Yelled Yu, "What the hell did you do?"

"Shh," said Gai, "Just watch." They crouched waiting for something to happen,

"Oh no," said Yu, "Please tell me you didn't-" He was cut off by an enormous explosion and was knocked down by the concussion and the heat of the blast.

"Whoooooooo Hooooooo!" Yelled Gai as he threw his arms in the air, "Wasn't that a sight? Haha!" He clasped a bewildered Zhou Yu in a one armed hug and shook him around.

"Please, Master Huang you must _not… EVER_ do that again, you understand?" Just like a child that was getting scorned at for doing something wrong, Gai's shoulders shrank and he nodded compliantly.

"Good," said Yu as they walked back to clean up the mess, "This is the first time that this black powder has been used for weaponry, I can't believe we never thought of this before. It used to be used for just fireworks." Gai stopped in his tracks, these bombs were being used because their fight with Cao Cao was most likely going to be on the water and they could rip through boats like a hot knife through butter. Fire, made these things work. _Fire_, that was it!

"And when people were getting hurt-"

"Master Zhou Yu," Gai interrupted, "Did you say plans were still being made for the battle with Cao Cao?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"These thing need fire to work, right?"

"Yes."

"And what are boats usually made out of?"

"Um… wood?"

"Yes! And what is one big problem with wood?"

"I'm… not sure I'm following-"

"Come on, think! What makes these things work?"

"Fire."

"And what are boats made out of?"

"Wood."

"What do you get when those things get friendly with one another?" Zhou Yu thought to himself for a while and then his body recoiled when he thought of it.

"You mean…" Gai nodded,

"Uh huh." They both stared for a while,

"Gai! You're a genius!" Shouted Yu, "I have to get to headquarters right away! Thank you, thank you, _thank you!_" He yelled like that until Gai couldn't hear him anymore. He laughed to himself,

"Kids," he said, "They always need the grown-ups to set them on the right track once in a while." He picked up another stone and hurled it across the surface of the lake, this time it skipped all the way to the other shore line.


	21. Red Cliffs: The Bluebird's Silence

**Red Cliffs: The Bluebird's Silence**

The wind was unpredictable. Every other second it seemed to pick up in any random direction, and then fade away as quickly as it had come. Huang Gai had no idea how the wind could possibly even itself out before the attack, let alone in the right direction. But Zhuge Liang had seemed extremely confident that the wind would blow from the southeast by then.

"Sir," whispered one of Gai's troops, "The oil has been spilled and the bails of hay are set."

"Good," replied Gai. Gai was trying to figure out the best way to conceal the ships. If the enemy found out what Wu was planning, then the battle would be lost indefinitely. Hiding the fire ships was going to have to be a priority.

One strategy was to use large fishing boats that were small enough to be eclipsed by the larger warships, but this was rejected. The fishing boats wouldn't spread the fire the way that the Allies needed them too. They would simply bounce off Cao Cao's warships and burn in the middle of the river. Another option was to use the smaller warships because they were large enough and had the prongs on the stern so that they could ram Cao Cao's ships and spread the fire adequately. The only issue there was that they could be easily detected. They had no other viable options, Huang Gai's task force went with the small, frigate-like warships.

The preparations were now complete. All that was left was to wait for Cao Cao and his forces to arrive, and the wind to make its appearance.

The air on the boat felt cool and peaceful. If it were any other night, Xiahou Dun would have enjoyed it. The boats had been chained together to prevent seasickness. This was advised by another one of Cao Cao's new strategists, Pang Tong.

The men were prepared, or at least as prepared as they'll ever be. Morale was high and the scouts have said that Cao Cao outnumbers Sun Quan nearly three to one.

Dun went to double check his gear when he heard music. He looked to his left to see a woman, Zhen Ji playing her flute. He walked closer to get a better look, she was stunning. The light from the torches and the moon hit her perfectly, it accented her features in a way that entranced Dun. He quietly found a seat nearby and watched and listened.

He watched the way her body moved and swayed with the music, how the music came spewing out of her in the most mesmerizing of melodies. Her eyes were closed but he could see that her face echoed the emotion of the music.

Dun never had any experience with music, he never took interest and never listened as intently as he did now. He heard people describe music and art in a way that he never understood and he thought they were just easily amazed and were wasting their time. This woman changed his opinion on that. He finally understood what they were saying.

Then, it suddenly stopped. Zhen Ji's back was facing him and he decided to slip away, but he was too slow. She spotted him and jumped back slightly in surprise.

"General Xia-" She was interrupted by a slow, pulsating applause.

"Magnificent, isn't she?"

"Most spectacular, my lord." The figures of Cao Pi and Sima Yi emerged from the left of Ji.

"Yes," said Cao Pi, "She is a very valuable possession indeed." Sima Yi nodded and looked down,

"My lord," he said, "Excuse my change in subject, but has your father ever expressed his ambitions and goals to you?"

"He has not," the prince replied, he started caressing Zhen Ji's shoulder with his knuckle, "And frankly I don't really care."

"Oh?" Said Yi surprised, "But it could mean the future of the land, Cao Pi. You must realize this."

"My father is but a mortal man, he will not live long enough to see a land under his dominion. And when his time comes, I will be there to assume control." He finally took his eyes off of his wife and turned to Sima Yi, "Know this, master strategist, I fight for no one but myself."

"I see," responded Yi, "So far you have just proven that you are a better man to serve under than your father."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Your father has already expressed his beliefs and ambitions with me and they were rather… displeasing."

"You mean to say that my father chose you above anyone else to reveal his ambitions to?" Sima Yi just grinned in his snake-like demeanor,

"I am his master strategist, am I not? I must know his true ambitions if I am to serve him to the best of my ability." By now, Dun was enraged and he expected Pi to be as well, but the young warlord formed an equally sly grin as Sima Yi,

"You are more cunning than I gave you credit for, Master Sima." Sima Yi bowed,

"My cunning," he said, "Is the gift that I save for you. I will serve your father, but I will reserve my true talents for you." The two smiled at each other, bowed and departed.

Ji was left alone and took a seat on the edge of the boat and looked over it into the water. Dun emerged from the shadows, his eyes still watching Sima Yi and Cao Pi as they departed.

"Did you hear them?" He asked, Zhen Ji gave him a confused look,

"Do you think I'm deaf?" She asked condescendingly, "They were right next to me!"

"And you aren't bothered by what you said."

"Should I be?"

"What they just said is borderline treason!"

"It was Cao Cao's son and his senior advisor, it's impossible for them to commit treason."

"Ugh!" Dun slumped down angrily onto a nearby crate, "You're a difficult woman, you know that?" Ji glared at him.

"You're being too dramatic. It's not like they're going to overthrow Lord Cao Cao."

"Well, you better-" Dun started to stand up and startled Ji. She lost her balance and began to fall backward; off of the ship. Dun dove for one of her flailing arms and grabbed hold just as her back end lost traction with the ship. He pulled her over and she ran into his chest, panting.

"Are you… alright?" He asked,

"I really… hate the water." She gasped,

"Um… why is that?"

"Can't… swim." They both just stood there while Ji panted into Dun's chest. He didn't know if he should push her away or let her be. He did nothing.

Once Ji caught her breath, she realized what she was doing and backed away. They both looked at each other for a second.

"I gotta go." Ji said as she turned away,

"Yeah… I have to… check my gear." Dun said, the two parted ways and Dun realized that his face had gotten very warm.

The room was black except for a sliver of dull moonlight that found its way through one of the cracks in the boards. Diao Chan focused on it for what seemed like an hour or two. She had been on the verge of vomiting ever since she was put onto the ship. The rank odor that emulated from the bottom level of the ship burned her lungs and made her nauseous. The only light that came in was from the crack in the wall and if someone occasionally opened the door to her room. To make things worse, she was freezing. She had been given a small amount of clothes and was nowhere near an open flame. Her condition had gotten somewhat better ever since the men chained the ships together, the nausea from the seasickness had subsided.

Chan's thoughts were interrupted by a huff from her 'room mates.' The men had thrown her into the stables. The rancid ammonia smell from their urine and feces did murder to her nose and stomach. The tightness of the room only made the smell worse. It was a horrible place to keep the animals.

She then heard the door creak and light flooded into the room. A few men came down and unlocked her door,

"Lord Cao Cao wishes to see you." She reluctantly nodded, anything was better than being down there.

She followed the men up the stairs and the dull warmth from the nearby torches sent a small but needed amount of relief over her. They took her to Cao Cao's throne on the main deck.

"Ah, Diao Chan," he said, "Please, join me." She approached the warlord and noticed that her fiddle had been set up beside him. She also noticed that Cao Cao's bodyguards, Dian Wei and Xu Zhu were standing close by.

"I want you to have a front row seat and watch as I destroy Wu's precious armada." Despite the fact that she had to sit by three of her least favorite people in the world, she was grateful to have a seat by the warmth of the lanterns that hung near Cao Cao.

"Leave us," Cao said to his two bodyguards, "Ready your men." The two bowed and set off to do their tasks. Diao Chan wasn't sure if Cao Cao had known about her incident with Dian Wei. Cao lifted a cup of tea and lightly swirled it around, "You know, Diao Chan," he said, she already didn't like where this was going, "One virtue that I pride myself of is the ability to give and receive respect. This ability, can carry someone a great distance. The one thing that hides amongst the ranks of respect is fear. Two emotions vastly different, yet all so similar, wouldn't you agree?" Chan looked at him for a fraction of a second before looking back down at the deck. "Both represent the opposite of the other, yet to the untrained eye, it is difficult to tell the difference between the two.

"I take pride in being able to distinguish the two emotions, I can see which of my men respect me and those that fear me. Another peculiar thing about these emotions is that they can both influence men to do the same thing. Do you know what that is?" He turned to face Chan once more, she continued to ignore him. "They persuade men to obey, both fear and respect. Because of this, it makes little difference if my men are one or the other. But one thing has been on my mind lately that will not subside. I find myself asking the same question," he paused for what seemed like a dramatic effect. He leaned in closer to Chan,

"Diao Chan, which emotion do _you_ feel towards me?" Chan stared at him with a scornful look in her eyes. She didn't know what to say, she didn't know if Cao was trying to trick her into something, so she said nothing. Cao nodded and leaned back into his throne, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers, two guards came running up to him,

"My lord?" They asked,

"Take her away," he said calmly, "Back to the place you found her."

"Yes sir," The troops grabbed Chan by the underarms and forced her up,

"You want my answer?" She asked defiantly, Cao Cao said nothing. "My answer is neither. Fear is wasted by the weak on men that they think are strong, but in reality they just build their muscles and enlist more men to give off the illusion that they are strong. In reality, those men are cowards and that element of fear they rely so much upon will eventually be their downfall. Respect is reserved for men who are truly strong, men who do not need to say a word to anyone to influence those around them. That respect offers the greatest rewards and those men will never lose.

"_You_, Cao Cao, are neither of those in my eyes. You may be fearsome enough to instill fear in the weak, and you act gentlemanly enough to persuade the dull-minded to respect you. And believe it or not Cao, I am neither of those despite the fact that I am a woman. I see right through you to the very bottom of your black heart. You hide behind that fake, pathetic grin, your Han loyalist lies, and your 'title' of Chancellor when all you are really doing is manipulating the corrupt and the stupid in the capital so that you can make your vision of tyranny a reality. Your true throne lies on the bottom of this river and that is where you shall forever rest come dawn!" At the last comment, the guards holding her smacked her across the face with the pole side of their spears.

Cao Cao raised his hand, "Enough!" The two guards stopped and released her, she collapsed to the ground. Then, Cao Cao started laughing, "We have finally managed to pull a few words out of the beautiful Diao Chan." He motioned to the seat by her fiddle, "Please, stay here with me for the remainder of the battle. You will not regret it. And please, don't be afraid to play for me." Chan did as she was told, the feeling of warmth she felt from the lanterns was replaced by numbness.

Their fleet eclipsed the black horizon with the steady glow of their lanterns. The Wu navy was now in sight and Xiahou Dun realized how unorganized their fleet was. Ships were scattered around everywhere, he wasn't sure if it was because Zhuge Liang or Zhou Yu had something planned that Cao Cao didn't expect, or if they had actually taken the Wu fleet by surprise. From Xiahou Dun's view, he couldn't see and advantage in the layout of the enemy ships, but he was still cautious. After all, Wu was more experienced on the water.

Cao Cao had given them direct orders to attack, the way in which it was done did not matter. "Men!" Dun shouted, "The enemy is well experienced and know the strengths and weaknesses of being on the water!" He looked around at the now worried faces of his troops, "But, we have two things they do not! Numbers and shear fighting ability! Sun Quan and his men know almost nothing of victory or battle for that matter! He is riding on the legacy of his forefathers! We, on the other hand, have achieved many great victories and have even gained the favor of the Emperor himself! _We,_ will emerge victorious when that sun makes it's way over the horizon and Sun Quan and his fleet will lie on the bottom of this river!" The men threw their arms up in the air in excitement.

The speech passed the time long enough for both fleets to get within range of arrows. Dun ordered his fleet to take cover and wait for the first strike. Just then, the sound of war drums echoed in the distance, followed by the whistling of arrows flying past Dun and his men. They stuck into the wooden roofs they had used for cover, some of the unluckier of the men were left vulnerable because of the limited space and they met their fate from the attack from above.

Once the whistling died down, Dun ordered his archers to attack as well. The air was filled with the snapping sounds of the strings smacking against the wooden bows. After their attack was finished, the front lines of the two fleets were too close for another volley of arrows, and the crews of both navies waited for the inevitable clash. Cao Cao's fleet had been sailing with the wind and therefore had the greatest momentum, they bulldozed their way through the smaller Wu fleet, but many of the Wu ships remained in tact.

Once the ramps dropped, Dun and his men were greeted with another volley of arrows, this one from farther behind the Wu lines. _They would put their own men at risk?_ He asked himself. His men took a heavy beating, but they suffered few fatal casualties and pressed on like they were trained to do.

They easily took one boat and when another boat came to rescue that one, they took that one as well. For the ships wise enough not to engage, Xiahou Dun's archers laid waste to the vulnerable port and starboard sides of the Wu ships with arrows. Eventually, more ships smashed into the line of ships and soldiers wearing blue and red clashed everywhere, and the line of smashed ships kept on growing.

The battle had been going great but Dun noticed that the enemy's second wave had done nothing. He figured that the enemy officers were contemplating retreat after they witnessed how swiftly Cao Cao's navy made work of their's. Dun continued to ravage his enemies and a slight grin crept across his face.

The screams and cries of dying men were faint, but they had still managed to reach Diao Chan's ears. Her eyes were cursed with the sights of men slaughtering men, archers delivering volleys of arrows onto positions where their own men had been fighting, entire ships capsizing and sending soldiers to their icy deaths in the bottom of the Jiang Dong, all to gain the upper hand over the other.

"Diao Chan," Cao Cao said, "You are a songstress, are you not?" Chan said nothing, "Come now, sing me a song." Chan again didn't respond. Cao Cao leaned into her ear, "In case you haven't forgotten, the stables still have extra room. I'm sure the horses have missed you in your absence." Chan glared at him. He picked up her fiddle and held it out to her. She grasped it angrily, there couldn't have been a worse time for music.

Cao Cao sat back down, "Well?" He asked. Chan looked back at the carnage that unfolded several meters in front of her. Then she looked down at her fiddle, plucked the strings and tuned it with the knobs at the top of the neck. She took one last look at the mayhem that was The Battle of Chi Bi,

_The bluebird that longs for the times that it played,_

_Pray's fate will guide it to those long lost days._

_Mornings in chaos and evenings in pain,_

_It's song has been dampened by killings in vain._

A man screams with all of his might as he grips the skin around his newly severed hand, only to witness his last moments staring at his attacker as he takes a swing at his neck.

_The bluebird it serenades no more,_

_No the bluebird it serenades no more._

_All the melodies and the harmonies that one could not ignore,_

_The song has been drowned out by war._

Another man has become so weak that he can't move his body at all. He just stares at the blood rushing to escape from his body and his muscles spasm from the blood loss.

_The flora that stretched out as far as the eye could see,_

_Tarnished and bloodied as red replaces green._

_The bluebird let's loose one last fragment of a song,_

_But the ears that it falls on are all dead and gone._

A horse is crippled by a strike to it's knee, it can't get up and whinnies with all it's might, but can't escape it's fate as it is trampled to death.

_Now the bluebird it serenades no more,_

_No the bluebird it serenades no more._

_All the melodies and the harmonies that one could not ignore,_

_No the song has been drowned out by war._

"Help, HEEEELP!" A man cries as his capsized ship rapidly fills up with water. He is closed off and trapped, his body panics and goes into a fit. His mind goes right to his newly-wed wife, and as his lungs fill with water, he dies happily knowing she was the last thing that went through his conscious mind.

_How, how could this happen to our sons and our fathers to be forced into a conflict forlorn?_

_Now, now our mothers and daughters are stricken and can do all but mourn. _

A soldier buried under a heap of bodies, suffers from a deep puncture wound. He spends his last breaths crying out for his mother.

_The bluebird it serenades no more,_

_No the bluebird it serenades no more._

_All the melodies and the harmonies that one could not ignore,_

_It's song has been drowned out by war._

Another soldier takes time away from the battle to write to his family even though he has strict orders not to. He tells his sister to make sure his mother and father hear about the news of his death from her and to go easy on them.

_The bluebird sees now as the killings come to a cease,_

_Foes are now friends as they all rest in peace._

_Why couldn't they see war was their fall from grace,_

_Now all their left with is Death's endless embrace._

A child, about ten years of age, stands frozen. Traumatized by the sites, sounds, and smells all around him. Moments later, he is quickly cut down by a charging horse.

_And now the bluebird it serenades no more,_

_No the bluebird it serenades no more,_

_All the melodies and the harmonies that one could not ignore,_

_Her song has been drowned out by war._

Diao Chan's fingers come to a rest, she looks up at Cao Cao through blurry eyes. He had not moved an inch since she started.

"Come, Diao Chan." He said, "We have work to do." She wiped her eyes and wiped the tears off of her fiddle. She got up and took one last look at the atrocity taking place in front of her and quickly followed after Cao Cao.


	22. Red Cliffs: A Land Long United

**Red Cliffs: A Land Long United…**

Author's Note: _First of all, I want to thank the ones that have stuck around read this obnoxiously long story. It's been ages since I've updated simply because I've been busy and because I've diverted my attention elsewhere and I apologize to any waiting for an update and never got one. I decided to continue after being inspired by Dynasty Warriors 7. Now, initially this was going to be the last chapter of this part of the story. I was going to either make another fic or separate this story into three other fic's. After writing this one, I realized that it is taking a really long time and I may need to add one or two more chapters to clear everything up in this segment. One last time I would like to apologize for the monotonous story line and the long updates, as well as thank any who have read this story at all._

_A Land Long United Must Divide…_ Zuo Ci pondered on these words for as long as he watched the battle. He'd seen it play out thousands of times in his visions. Each time was more different than the rest, each one came with endless bloodshed. He knew it was his job to ensure it turned out the way fate wanted to, but his heart sank when that meant he had to sit back and do nothing while China witnessed the bloodiest time in it's history. He futilely tried not to think of the countless innocents that would soon parish in the coming wars, the many faces of children who would later take the fate of their generation in their hands, soon lay cold and lifeless underneath the wreckage of their homes. Ci so longed the time when a land may go about change without the pointless cost of many, many lives. He reassured himself that greatness seldom comes without war, as will it come to many in this one.

Ci felt that his feathers wanted him to turn southeast, the winds had changed.

* * *

It was the screams that got to him the most, and the fact that he could nothing to help them. Sometimes they were close, other times far. Either way, they had always been there somewhere in the distance, Huang Gai and his men could do nothing about it. He looked at the faces of his men and knew that they had echoed his pain. The feeling of having to go to war and fight and die was a privilege compared to having to witness the sights, sounds, and smells yet having no power to help any of your comrades or influence the battle in any way. His pain was intensified knowing that the majority of these men were younger than he was, with a full life ahead of them. He did nothing but pray since the battle began. He prayed that the winds would change, he said to the heavens that he had more resolve than this Zhuge Liang that had been at his alter praying for as long as Gai had. Zhuge Liang had only been here to protect his own land, he didn't know any of these men that were losing their lives, he hadn't felt the agonizing pain when he heard the screams of a young man for his mother as the life crept out of him, and he definitely didn't feel the pain when it was someone he had known. Gai knew his resolve was stronger, prayers are always the truest during times war, at the very front lines. He closed his eyes and tried to block out everything around him. He prayed to the heavens, his ancestors, and anyone else that would listen that had any power to help these men.

He heard a soft chirp that was like a whisper from up and to his right. He looked and saw the silhouette of a bird sitting atop the Wu banner. Gai shook his head, ignored it and continued praying. The bird chirped again, much louder this time. Gai once again looked up and his eyes widened.

"Ready the ores!" He whispered a little too loudly, "Set the sails and light the torches. This is our fight now!" Gai smiled. As his ships left the dock, however his smile soon faded. The banner pointed towards the alter in the southeast. Almost as if it was mocking Gai by recognizing who's prayers the heavens had really heard.

* * *

Xiahou Dun's feet cried out in relief when they were planted onto solid land. The enemy hadn't seen them yet. They had swept through the first wave of Wu ships like weeds to a scythe. Cao Cao had explained that their first priority was to establish a base on land before they were to assault the Wu main camp, so when the second wave of Wu ships came, Dun and his men were already setting a course for land. When the rest of his men landed, he heard the enemy cries in the distance and knew they had been spotted. He quickened his pace but then a hint of light caught his eye. He turned around and what he saw made his weapon drop to the ground beside him.

With a strike in between the eyes and compressing the man's skull, another soldier went down. Only to be replaced by half a dozen more hell-bent on their one objective. Zhou Yu quickly realized the uselessness of trying to hold the enemy soldiers at bay, their numbers were overwhelming. This had only been one ship that had made it ashore as well, he wondered how many were on their way and how many they had held. He was losing ground quickly, and his soldiers who had volunteered to help him were growing fewer and fewer. As he fought, he felt the stone of the altar under his feet. They were almost on top him.

Then, like a saving grace, the wind was at his back now and he felt a firm hand on his soldier. Yu's head turned around to see Zhuge Liang's reassuring face. Yu nodded and whistled for his steed.

"Everyone pull back to the base!" He cried out, his thoughts turned to Zhuge Liang. _Had he really summoned up the winds?_ A frown crept across his face, Zhuge Liang was a powerful being and Yu knew that even if the allied forces brought down Cao Cao here, Sun Quan would have to bring his attention towards Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang as well.

Yu snapped himself out of his daydreams as he and his men made it into the solitary base in between Cao Cao's men and the Wu headquarters. The doors slammed shut behind them and it wasn't long until the enemy was pounding at the doors as well. Archers and rock throwers went to work and tried to hold off the enemy as long as possible before they broke through.

Yu heard someone cry out towards the northern end of the base, "Fire!" Yu neither saw or smelled smoke, so it couldn't have been the base itself. He ran to the northern side of the base and peeked through one of the cracks in the wood. His eyes lit up with delight as he saw the enemy ships ablaze in the distance. The screams of "Fire!" swept like a wave among the men. Yu ordered the northern gates to be opened and he rode over to Sun Quan to make preparations for the counter attack. He then noticed something missing,

"Where's Xiao?" he asked, Sun Quan took a downtrodden deep breath,

"We tried to stop her…" He replied, what Zhou Yu heard next made him drop to his knees.

* * *

Huang Gai gazed in awe at how smoothly his assault turned out. The enemy fleet lit up like oil-soaked wood chips to a forest fire. He and his men swam over to nearby shore and as soon as they arrived at the banks one of his men furiously tapped him on the shoulder and pointed up. It was a banner waving, but it was neither blue nor red. Then, underneath it an army poured out over the hills like a waterfall.

* * *

Xiahou Dun didn't know if what he was feeling was sheer awe at the spectacle that was in front of him or utter shock knowing that many of his friends and comrades had been engulfed by these massive flames.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" Dun turned around to see the repulsing hermit Cao Cao had taken under his wing for this battle.

"_You,_"Dun snarled, "You are the reason for this!" Dun charged at him and took a swing at his mid section. The man didn't move and Dun followed through expecting his blade to make contact with flesh. When it never came, he was thrown off balance by his own strength and almost fell to the ground. He looked up to see the misty vision of Pang Tong fade into the night with the sound of the man's laughter trailing behind it.

"Damn it!" Dun punched the ground. _How could cousin be so stupid? Chains? To hell with the men's stomachs! If they were truly loyal and fought like men then they would fight solely on the fact that they were fighting on behalf of the Han! _Dun recoiled at that last thought, he knew that wasn't completely true. His cousin had pulled his fair share of shady tactics in the courts, but Dun knew that Cao's final vision had called for it, whatever it may be.

Pondering would have to wait, "Everyone regroup!" he shouted, "Prepare to return to the ships and help our allies!" His last remark was answered with shocked and worried stares and whispering among his men. Not only was Dun defying orders, he was sending his forces into the very lungs of hell.

* * *

The smoke choked the air out of her lungs and she found it hard to take a breath without any in it. Diao Chan tried to get low enough so that she could at least breathe without it in her face. The rocking of the massive ship threw her to the deck and she decided the best way was to crawl. The horses had gone into a frenzy, she knew that no one would give the slightest care if the ship were to either capsize or burn away on top of the Jiang Dong with them inside, but Chan had grown used to their company and couldn't help herself but to rescue them.

Feeling her way around she found their bonds and broke whatever she could. Her feet were wet so she knew there was a leak nearby, all the more reason to hurry. There were a few of the ropes that wouldn't untie themselves. The constant motion of the ship and the recklessness of the horses made it seem impossible to untie even the simplest of knots. Chan decided to look around for something to cut them with instead. Her hands felt around the floor until they reached a smooth metal surface. The ship rocked once more and the object slid into the very faint light that shone through the smoke. The light that hit it was just enough to give Chan a glimpse of what it was: an axe! She fumbled around in the direction where it fell and was met with a hand grasping her wrist. Chan gasped and recognized instantly who it was.

"Lord Cao Cao isn't here to save you now." Dian Wei whispered in her ear. She wrenched herself free from his grasp. The light now was shining at his lower face and she could see a glimpse of the evil sneer on his face along with his menacing eyes. She backed away from him and he slowly crept over to her, axe in hand. She tripped over a rogue horse and fell to the floor, Dian Wei laughing all the while. The splashes from his footsteps grew louder and Chan struggled to think how she could defend herself. Her hands became clumsy and her hand sunk deep into what felt like a bag of needles. She withdrew quickly and saw the glint of the axe through the smoke as Dian Wei raised it above his head for the killing blow. Chan could only guess at what the substance was as she hurled it at what she guessed was the general's face. She must have done something to him as the axe never came down and she heard him yelp in pain.

She took hold of the opportunity to escape and threw herself on her feet. She looked at the pin-like substance that was sticking from her hand, it was straw from the horse feed. Thanking the heavens for her luck she held her breath as she charged through the hazy smoke. Chan found the staircase and leapt up it as fast as she could but was pulled down by Dian Wei's massive hand and smacked into the stairs. Pain seared through her midsection and she lost her breath. Stars began to fill her vision and she only assumed that her death was near, then the vessel rocked again, throwing her attacker back into the room. There was a deafening crack as wood from somewhere behind her splintered open and water came gushing into the room. The water gently aided her as she crawled up the stairs, she was glad she couldn't breathe for that instant as she began to take notice all of the filth and horse dung floating around in the water.

Chan made her way to the second floor and her lungs slowly started to draw breath. It was then that the amount adrenaline fueling her body began to wane and she gasped for air. With every breath her chest felt as if it was stuck through with a skewer. After a few smoke-filled breaths, her feet found a solid enough footing on the floor beneath and she began to wade through to the upper deck.

The sound of the water flowing behind her was cut off shortly by an object protruding from below. She didn't need to turn around to know that she had to quicken her pace. She found the ladder leading to the upper deck and was smacked from behind by something wooden. Her fiddle had flowed down the small river and cracked over her back. She pained more for the fiddle than her back but tried to shrug it off and continue forward, but was impeded by something on the ground. She tried to kick it off of her while Dian Wei came closer and closer. His sheer size making it difficult for him to move through the water. She kicked the object up, but it coiled around her legs. She grabbed it to throw it aside and noticed that it was metal. She could have cried out of joy once she discovered what it was.

She could hear the man's breathing behind her now, and she swung randomly behind her, taking out a section of the wooden wall beside her. More water poured in and swept the general off his feet. Chan fought back the pain in her chest and took a deep breath and dove under. The small light coming from the fires above showed her where the exit was and she swam with all of her might toward it. The murky water burning her eyes and blurring her vision along the way. Her hands then made contact with a rung, it was the ladder to the deck! She pulled herself upward with one pull and she had made it. She climbed out of the filthy water and waded across the half flooded ship. Her thoughts then went to the horses trapped underneath. Her heart sank and she cursed herself with what she found herself doing.

Chan checked behind her for any sign of her pursuer, and dove off the side of the ship. She felt her way around to where she estimated the stables were. She knew she would get herself killed doing this, but she knew that she would never live in harmony with herself if she let innocent beings die when she had the power to stop it. She found a weak spot in the hull and tore away at it with her chain whip. A section broke free, and horses started squirming their way out of the hole. Chan swam with them to the top and as she broke the surface gasping for air she remembered the three horses that had still been tied up. Cursing her caring nature once again, she dived below. She found where the stables had been, a lot lower than before, and saw the figures of the horses still trapped. She had no idea if they were moving or not, but went to work on the rope anyway.

Chan then let out gasp, forcing precious air from her weakened lungs as the figure of Dian Wei plowed into her. She was more ready this time and would not back away from him. She swung her whip at where she guessed he was at, no contact. She felt the water swirl around her face as he made a similar attempt to decapitate her. She circled around him trying to get a better angle. She saw his massive silhouette lurking toward her like a sea monster and launched herself to her right. She felt a crack as he slammed into her yet again, but ten times harder. She laid limp in the water for a fraction of a second and tried to pull herself up. When she tried to move her arms, she noticed her left arm laid limp. Finding a solid structure she kicked herself to the surface. Coughing and hacking up inhaled water as she broke the surface. She lost her buoyancy for a second and fell beneath yet again, she reached out and found a piece of debris floating beside her. She pulled herself up with her one arm and held on to the wood piece for dear life.

Like a shark looming toward her, Dian Wei once again made his way for her. He leaped out of the water in mid swing ready to bisect her at the chest. There was one moment while he moved for the water that would be trapped within her memory for as long as she had memory left. The hellish light from the fires and the moonlight diluted by the smoke made his eyes howl with rage and made the man's face visible. She could see his mouth part into a demonic scream that would give her chills when she thought about this moment for the rest of her life. She wondered for that split second why he had been so furious. She felt sorrow that she ever made anyone feel this way. Then she remembered Lu Bu and found that she deserved this from someone, it might as well be him. With a last ditched effort, Chan flicked her wrist, sending the sharp tip of her chain whip into his head. It made contact and she saw his head recoil violently back. His body landed in the water mere centimeters from her and never surfaced. She gazed at the whirlpool of blood and her body collapsed. Her thoughts went to the drowned horses that she failed to save, and as her world faded to the murky blackness around her, her last thought was how Dian Wei's eyes in his final moment reminded her so much of Lu Bu.

* * *

Why he had gone alone, Zhou Yu had no idea. He had no time to think about it, he just acted. He hacked his way through countless enemy troops, through their very front lines. He had no idea where he was exactly, all that guided him was the blue flag towering over the rest of Cao Cao's fleet: Cao Cao's personal flagship.

Xiao Qiao had gone to Cao Cao to try to convince him to call off the attack. Sun Quan said she remembered hearing something that the entire reason why Cao Cao had come to Chi Bi was because of her and her sister, Da. Zhou Yu knew this wasn't the reason but convinced Sun Quan to press the attack anyway. The young ruler was recently married and Yu knew he would sympathize with him if Yu told Quan that he was worried for his wife. Zhou Yu knew Quan was strange like that, he wouldn't defend his land against Cao Cao if it meant to rid the land of a dangerous man, but he would do it to protect his sister-in-law and his brother's best friend's wife.

Another wave gone, Zhou Yu pressed forward, his eyes steady on the flag. He had encountered a fairly small number of enemy troops. Most had sought the safety of hard ground, but there were a fair amount that stayed. Troops and the maze-like formation that Cao Cao's ships had taken up out of the chaos of the fire made Zhou Yu's task all the more difficult.

As Yu made his way onto another burning vessel, he had noticed that the enemy troops' attention had been taken by something else to the West. Yu stealthily made his way to where they were running to, what he saw brought a relived smile to his face.

* * *

Adrenaline coursing through his body from the initial surprise attack, Zhao Yun and the rest of Liu Bei's fresh supply of troops bulldozed their way through Cao Cao's exhausted, battered, and now panicking troops. Yun had to miss out in a lot of the fun though, his orders were to sneak behind the burning mass of lumber that was the remains of Cao Cao's fleet and take the enemy commander by surprise.

He broke off from the initial attack. He circled around the cargo hold of one burning vessel and stopped when he heard the faint noise of footsteps on wood. He squeezed himself into a narrow space between two barrels and aimed his spear outwards in the direction he heard the footsteps, which were now getting louder. He could see the man's shadow, from the hazy light of the fires, it looked like the man was pretty elaborately dressed. _An officer!_ Yun hastily thought. Just when he could see the man's silhouette, Yun jumped out in mid strike, but pulled back just in time when he saw who it really was. The Wu fleet commander; Zhou Yu.

The two officers stared at each other in disbelief for several moments when the Wu commander smiled and patted Yun firmly on the shoulder. Yun returned the gesture and smiled triumphantly as well. Their plan had worked perfectly. It seemed to Wu that at first the only contribution to the battle that Liu Bei would give was the minds of Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and the inclusion of a few dozen troops. This caused much animosity in the Wu ranks, seeing as how this was Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's idea in the first place. Zhuge Liang had advised Liu Bei and all of his forces to withhold the fact that they were to join the battle later on in case the information was leaked to Cao Cao.

The two were shaken from their brotherly embrace by the stampede of enemy reinforcements charging toward them. They fought their way through the hordes of blue and Yun was glad to see that some of his own troops had joined them as ordered.

"Why are you going this way?" asked Yu,

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" replied Yun, the general explained his situation as did the other. Yun agreed to help Yu and was happy to have some help in taking down Cao Cao in return.

With both generals and the dozen or so men helping them, they quickly cut through the rather meek rear guard and found Cao Cao's capital ship, _sinking _capital ship. Zhou Yu dived into the wreckage without giving Yun a chance to stop him. Yun looked at his squad, who were just as shocked as he was.

"What the hell," said Yun and joined Yu in the murky black water. After several minutes of searching, Yu popped up.

"She's not here!" He yelled. Yun then pointed to a light illuminating the shore line to the northeast. They both swam furiously toward the shore, followed by Yun's small yet loyal entourage. Once they arrived, they could hear the nervous banter of Cao Cao and his men. Yun put a finger up to his lips, and issued a few hand signals to his men. He turned around and saw that Zhou Yu was gone.

"Yu!" A women's voice cried out and everything went dark. Next came the clanking and bashing of weapons against armor, flesh, and bone. As well as the grunts of men struggling against each other. Yun charged forward into the blackness, slicing and bashing any body that was in front of him. He felt bodies collapse all around him. Nobody could see where they were. His eyes started to adjust enough so that he could see hazy shadows running amok everywhere and took a stab at several of them. This went on for about thirty seconds, then it all ended.

Yun stood in silence for only a few more seconds, his eyes had adjusted even more. He could see the bodies littered all around him. Then he was jerked by a scream. It came from behind and to the left of him. He ran in that direction until he came across a woman leaning over a man. He ran up to who he assumed was Xiao Qiao and kneeled beside her. She was holding Zhou Yu in her arms, from what Yun saw, he was still alive but in lots of pain. He looked closer and saw that he had a huge gash in his mid section just under his heart.

Yun called his men to fetch a paddle boat from nearby. Yun assisted in moving him into the boat and scanned the battlefield in the light of the men's newly lit torches. Neither he nor is men suffered any injuries and Yun couldn't help but notice that there wasn't even an ounce of blood on the enemy's weapons.

* * *

"Now I can finally rid this world of _you!_" cried Xiahou Dun as he stampeded across the deck of a ship that had somehow completely avoided the flames behind it. "I'll rip you apart like the lowly _swine_ you are!"

The hulking general was caught by surprise but still managed to shrug off Dun's attack. They clashed and engaged in a dance that was all too familiar to each of them, except this time, it was the real thing. Unlike their sparring exercises from before, Dun didn't hold back any of his tricks and neither did Guan Yu. It almost brought a smile to Dun's face, both had held back during their time as allies, knowing that they would soon fight for blood someday.

Moves that had once seemed mind-bogglingly swift and quick then seemed slow and dragged out compared to the speed at which the two dueled now. Their weapons clashed together four or five times with every rapid heartbeat. There were plenty of times where Dun thought he could get a strike inside the God of War's impenetrable defenses, but time and time again, Guan Yu would turn the tables and go at Dun with different attack sequences and stances. Eventually, the two broke off and spun out, for the simple reason to catch their breath and analyze each other once more. They circled around each other as their troops gathered around in a larger circle cheering them on.

Suddenly, Dun heard the sound of cloth moving swiftly in the wind and next to him landed Xu Huang. Had it been any other soldier, Dun would have told him to get lost, but when it came to Guan Yu, he was happy to get any help whatsoever.

"Guan Yu!" There was a faint cry from the east followed by the galloping sound of a horse. Zhang Liao's horse jumped cleanly over the gap between the ship and land. Without hesitation, he charged at the general prompting the other two to engage as well. At first it seemed that the bearded warrior would finally fall and Dun would make him pay for his betrayal, but again and again, the tireless monster would halt their attacks and even force them on the defensive.

Once more, the generals backed away to recuperate and devise a new plan of attack. Guan Yu's soldiers had gone into a riot, inspired by their officer's flawless battle prowess. The groups attention was diverted to the staff above as an inspired Zhang He made a flashy entrance.

"These fires are a beauty like no other!" He cried, "Let them burn higher, higher! Lift my fighting spirit up to the heavens above!" He then viciously launched himself at the God of War and put him on the defensive yet again. The other three generals joined it and Guan Yu finally fell. It seemed to finally be the end of this demon of a man.

* * *

Huang Gai watched from the bottom of the ship. It seemed that no one had seen him and his men board at all. If they did, no one cared or paid enough attention. He saw the bearded man fall to his knees, and Gai decided to take action.

"Young whelps!" He yelled, "Don't any of you know how to fight like men?" He swung his club randomly keeping the shocked officers at bay. He saw Guan Yu slowly rise to his feet out of his peripheral vision. "Thought you might've needed a hand." The hulking general laid a hand on Gai's shoulder, giving him a sign of gratitude while he was still too out of breath to speak.

The fight then continued on, Gai and Yu even hold the four others back for a decent amount of time, then Yu started to fatigue once more. The other four launched at the opportunity and mercilessly assaulted the larger general. Gai had been forced back as well and tried his best to divert their main focus to him.

Next came a thunderous roar from the western shoreline, which didn't come as surprise to anyone this time. Zhang Fei crashed on the deck with one monstrous bound from the shore. "_No one gangs up on my brother!"_ He shrieked and fought the four generals back. By this time, Cao Cao's generals had grown immensely tired and couldn't keep up the offensive any longer. With a series of nods they withdrew back to the northeast joining up with the rest of Cao Cao's exhausted and beaten forces, with the cheers of the enemy still ringing in their ears. The battle had ended.


	23. Chapter 23

**A Frog and a Duck…**

_No,_ Yun thought, _It couldn't have been me._ He replayed the fight over and over again in his mind, a slice here a stab there, he had slain so many he couldn't count correctly, nor keep track of who the victims were. _It could have been one of my men,_ Yun shook his head, they weren't anywhere near the fight at the time. _Was it really me?_ He had tried to convince himself that the enemy had manage to sneak in a strike at the young Wu commander, but Yun knew deep down that his vision did not fool him; the enemy hadn't been able to land a blow on anyone.

The fight lasted only a few several seconds, Yun leapt forward without hesitation into the fray amassing around Zhou Yu. He had figured he had done the heroic thing to come in after him. At the end of the fight, Zhou Yu had been on the ground clutching a major wound to his chest. _It could have been from his own weapon_, that was even more ridiculous, Zhou Yu's weapon didn't even cause lacerations of any kind, it was a pole. Yun ran his hand through his greasy hair, the odds were good that he could have potentially killed an allied commander.

What made Yun's position all the worse was that he had also failed in his initial mission; kill Cao Cao. He now stood in front of Lord Liu Bei and Master Zhuge Liang in the Wu main camp.

"Please my lord," he said with his head bowed, "Let me pursue him." Liu Bei rubbed his chin thoughtfully, Zhuge Liang whispered something in his ear.

"Brother," Liu Bei called, Guan Yu stood at attention. "You will assist Zhao Yun in tracking down Cao Cao. We will need your might and Red Hare's haste to intercept him." Guan Yu bowed obediently, with a wave, Liu Bei dismissed Yun. He knew Liu Bei's real intentions for sending Guan Yu with him, he was gracious enough giving Yun the chance to redeem himself, but sending Guan Yu- the best general under Liu Bei, and quite possibly in the land- was really to cover up Yun's mistakes.

The two gathered their gear and a few of their best men and set off in pursuit.

"Zhao Yun," Guan Yu spoke as they rode off, "Cao Cao's men may have their bodies broken, but remember that an animal is most deadly when cornered." Yun nodded and his attention went back to the path ahead of him. He was grateful that Guan Yu could accompany him, if he was going to fail again, he knew that someone who could complete his task was riding with him.

The resistance they met was scarce, but as Guan Yu had foretold, it was fierce. A steady stream of troops tried to intercept them but eventually either fled or were cut down but did stand their ground for a longer time that Yun had expected. They faced a numerous amount of officers as well, from the bits of the conversations that Yun picked up between the officers and Guan Yu, it seemed they had been questioning Guan Yu's resolve at killing his own master.

Eventually, Yun realized that he had been slowing the mighty general down, as swift as Titan was, he couldn't keep pace with the great Red Hare.

"Go on!" Yun called, "If you wait for me we won't catch him!" Guan Yu nodded and Red Hare ran off in a blur of red and orange down the road to the northeast. Yun slowly trudged along after him, still cleaning up what remained of the men Guan Yu hadn't managed to kill, until he had finally caught up with the general. Yun couldn't be sure if what he saw was real or an illusion created by his eyes.

Guan Yu stood over the man with the blade of Blue Dragon aimed at the Chancellor's chest. They stared at each other for several seconds, both had an exhausted, yet content look on their faces. Then, to Yun's bewilderment, Guan Yu raised his blade. Cao Cao seemed to be just as shocked, he stood on the ground with his jaw dropped. Guan Yu then angrily waved him away and Cao Cao scurried off.

"Guan Yu!" Yun yelled, "What are you-" He was silenced by a malicious glare from Guan Yu. The man mounted his horse and road back the way they came. _No!_ Yun thought, _I failed again! I'm sure to be punished by Lord Liu Bei now!_ His mind whirled around in chaos as it tried to grasp what was happening; why had Guan Yu gone and done that? What was going to happen to him when he returned? Did he actually strike Zhou Yu down?

As Zhao Yun approached the main camp, he was not met with distaste as he expected, nor was Guan Yu- but that was a given knowing the man's impression on those around him. The hundreds of people that were in the Wu main camp who had been celebrating earlier now displayed a somber mood and had grown eerily quiet. At least one of Zhao Yun's fears may have come true.

* * *

Xiao Qiao had to be held back by the combined efforts of Sun Shang Xiang, Lian Shi, and her sister Da. Having known Shang Xiang since she was a little girl and how strong she was, the fact that she alone couldn't hold the distressed teenager down knew that the young girl had been in a lot of pain. It pained Huang Gai to watch as it played out. The young woman had first gone into what appeared to be a state of shock, then suddenly lashed out at everyone around her in a fit of anger.

"_It's all my fault!"_ Her scream sent a sharp pain into Gai's chest and he couldn't help but feel deep sorrow for the girl. Her fits of rage had receded into depression as she sobbed into her older sister's chest, the three girls around her all doing there best to try to comfort her while trying to hold back tears of their own as well.

As soon as the news got out that the young Wu commander had not survived through his injuries, the entire camp grew silent. Gai didn't know what to think of it all, almost every major conflict he had fought in so far ended in a devastating pyrrhic victory. The way that the young ruler had responded to it all still impressed him. He wasn't sure if even Sun Jian would have kept his cool after experiencing this much.

The allies spent the remainder of the night in a quiet state of mourning, Wu forces and Liu Bei forces alike. When dawn finally came, the commanders of the two armies discussed matters in private and decided to part ways. Gai noticed that Sun Quan talked with his sister for a while, she had a troubled look on her face afterwards. She began packing her things and walked toward the green-clad troops heading back West.

Gai ran over to Sun Quan, "What did you tell her?" he growled. Quan looked back at him unfazed,

"I've arranged a marriage between her and Liu Bei."

"What?" yelled Gai,

"I did it to keep a close eye on Liu Bei." Quan interjected. Gai angrily paced around the tent, he had known Shang Xiang as long as he had known Sun Jian. She was like a daughter to him.

"Well can I at least see her before she leaves?" Quan nodded, stepped out of the tent and nodded Gai toward her. Gai ran up to her,

"Hey kiddo," she looked up at him, she had apparently been crying for a time. Gai just stared at her, then patted her shoulder. "Be good, don't do anything your father wouldn't approve of." Suddenly regretting that last statement, she burst into tears. She didn't turn away as Gai expected, instead she dropped her things and wrapped her arms around as much of his large physique as she could. He hugged her back,

"Hey," he said, she looked up at him, "crying is for sissies." Both of them smiled and picked up her things. As he bent down, she hugged his head and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Thanks for everything, Uncle Gai." He smiled and let her go her way.

"I'll always be prouda' you, kid!" She waved again with a smile, but Gai saw that her eyes were still watery. She mounted a horse that Liu Bei supplied for her and left with his army for Jing.

* * *

"Cousin!" Xiahou Dun called out, the number of burning heaps of wood had been diminishing and Dun had no idea where the capital ship had been. He ran through each ship but was only met with panicked troops struggling to escape. His ears then picked a feminine voice, his first thought was Zhang He, but as he drew closer there was no doubt that the voice belonged to a woman.

"Come on!"

"Let me go!" Dun turned the corner to see Cao Pi dragging his wife to a nearby lifeboat.

"Do you want to be burned alive?" The young general yelled,

"I have to find her- UGH!" Pi then pointed his hand in her face.

"How _dare_ you talk-"

Dun lunged at the sniveling general and slapped him with the flat side of his sword rather violently across the face. The man turned to look at him with ghastly rage in his eyes and a bloodied lip and brought his sword up to make a strike at Dun. Dun brought his own up in defense when they were both stopped by another voice.

"Now, now boys. What would dearest Cao Cao think of all of this?" They both turned around to see Sima Yi walking toward them in a rather disturbingly calm pace despite the flames and the ship falling apart just meters behind him. "Now let's settle this little dispute and get off this flaming heap of bark, shall we?" Dun and Pi continued to stare at each other,

"You hit her like that again and I'll gut you like a damn-"

"That won't be happening Master Xiahou." Sima Yi's condescending voice intruded again and he met Dun's hateful gaze with a look of quiet discipline like a father would give to his disobedient son. Dun couldn't do anything and knew that Cao Cao wouldn't believe him if he told him that his son was abusing his wife. He knew that Sima Yi would be on the young man's side and because of his position, Cao would have to side with his strategist. This just made Dun hate the two of them even more, had the circumstances been better, he would have slaughtered them both. Here on this life boat there were too many others watching and Cao Cao would be sure to realize that his son and strategist had been missing somehow. Dun could easily blame it on the enemy, but decided against it.

Pi turned away in disgust to take his seat at the front of the boat next to Sima Yi. This left Dun with Zhen Ji. She mouthed a "thank you" and the look in her troubled eyes both calmed him down and broke his heart. He then remembered that she had said something about looking for a woman during the struggle with her husband. Dun remembered the woman that they had picked up who had been the maiden that tore Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu apart. He didn't care much for her, but the fact that her disappearance and, most likely, death brought such sorrow to Ji's face brought sorrow to his as well.

* * *

Her senses started to slowly come back to her one by one. She could feel the rough rug underneath her as well as a bouncing sensation. Then she could hear the clatter of weapons and tools as well as the chatter of men and the clicking of horse hooves. She opened her eyes to their protest and was met with a white canvas. She was looking up at the roof of a carriage.

Diao Chan tried to sit up but with a grunt collapsed back down on the rug she had been laying on.

"Easy there," the voice came from her left. "You took quite a beating back there." She strained her head to find the person speaking to her. She saw a man laying rather comfortably with his head resting in between his folded hands and his feet propped up on a nearby supply pack with his eyes closed. He was dressed in red and his hair stood straight up, she noticed bells hung around his neck that jingled with each bump that the carriage ran over.

"The way you carried her, it's a miracle she could even wake up at all." This next voice came from her right and she strained to look at this man as well. What she saw made a chill run up her spine. The man was also clad in red but was slightly leaner than the man to her left. He was sitting upright making an attempt to whittle some sort of design into a block of wood. His face had a younger and more refined complexion and his hair was kept in a high pony tail. She also noticed a strange sectioned staff by his side. His looks were absolutely dazzling.

He then noticed that she was looking at him and he gave her a feint smile that took what was left of her breath away. "It's supposed to be a tiger." He held up his failed whittling project, "I think it looks like it, don't you?"

"Looks like a frog trying to swallow a duck," came the voice to her left. At first glance she had to agree with him. The man then hurled the "tiger" at the other man's forehead and it collided with a "clunk."

"Hey! What the-" Diao Chan mistakably let out a small giggle that not only embarrassed her but brought a severe pain to her chest once again.

"Hey look at that, Ning. She likes it when you get hurt!" Said the man on the left and let out a laugh. "Ning" sat up and threw the object back, slamming into the other man's raised hand. The two kept this up for several bouts until Chan did her best to speak.

"Sorry, but where am I?" She squeaked,

"Beats us," said the man known as Ning, "We're headed back to Wu right now, but I've never seen this place." He said as he looked out a hole in the canvas that appeared to be made by a knife. Chan tried to sit up, but was gently pushed back down by the other man.

"Whoa there," he said, "The medics said you have a broken arm and about four or five broken or fractured ribs." She then glanced at her left arm, it had been put in a rough splint and wrapped up in cloth. She noticed that there was a sharp pain in it as the carriage went over each bump. Chan also noticed a smell approaching her nose. She lifted up an arm and recoiled, the stench was coming from her!

"Aw that's nothing'!" Bellowed "Ning," "Smell these puppies!" He lifted his arms and took a whiff and snapped his head back with a sour look on his face. "Whoo-eee!" The other man shook his head,

"You'll get washed up when we get to Wu." Wu… the name then clicked in her head. She was heading to Wu! She didn't know if she was excited or anxious.

"My name is Ling Tong." Said the man to her right with the same entrancing smile as before, she gently took his outstretched hand.

"You can call me Gan Ning," Said the other man as he spit something out the back of the carriage. "You'll see that name all over the land here someday."

I'm… Diao Chan…" she said barely louder than a whisper, but the two men must have heard her anyway.

"Please to meet you." Said Gan Ning, she wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not.

"You can lie back down if you want, Diao Chan." Said Ling Tong as he kicked back, closed his eyes and yawned. "I think we speak for everybody when I say we've all had a long night." The man didn't say anything else afterward, Chan looked to her left and saw that Gan Ning had already slumped over a supply pack and was snoring loudly. She let her head lay back as well and closed her eyes, she wondered what her future held in store for her in Wu, then quickly fell into a dream.

Author's Note:_ Ok, this is officially the last chapter of Black Horned Crane I. Look for the second story coming shortly. Thanks in advance for any reviews!_

_P.S. Sorry for the stupid chapter title._


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